Composition for treating hbv infection

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a composition comprising hepatitis B virus (HBV) component(s), and which may be either nucleic acid- or polypeptide-based as well as nucleic acid molecules and vectors encoding such HBV component(s). It also relates to infectious viral particles and host cells comprising such nucleic acid molecules or vectors. It also provides composition and kits of parts comprising such nucleic acid molecules, vectors, infectious viral particles or host cells and the therapeutic use thereof for preventing or treating HBV infections.

The present invention relates to immunogenic compositions with hepatitisB virus (HBV) component(s), and which may be either nucleic acid- orpolypeptide-based. Said immunogenic compositions can be used forstimulating or enhancing an immune response to HBV with the goal ofproviding a protective or therapeutic effect against HBV infection andany condition or disease caused by or associated with an HBV infection.The present invention also relates to expression vectors for expressingsuch HBV component(s) and their therapeutic or prophylactic use. Theinvention is of very special interest in the field of immunotherapy, andmore particular for treating patients infected with HBV, especiallythose chronically infected.

BACKGROUND

Hepatitis B is a major public health problem with more than 350 millionpersons chronically infected worldwide, 20 to 40% of them being at riskof developing chronic liver disease, cirrhosis and hepatocellularcarcinoma. Despite the existence of effective preventive vaccines, thehepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is still rampant in many countries,even developed ones, with an estimation of 4.5 millions of new cases ofinfection per year worldwide. Unlike the WHO recommendation which is toimplement universal vaccination, the coverage of full course preventivevaccination varies from 25% in Asia to 75-90% in Europe. Currentlyhepatitis B is the 10^(th) cause of mortality (around 1 million ofdeaths/year) and HBV related liver carcinoma, the 5^(th) most frequentcancer. Geographic repartition of HBV infection is uneven withprevalence lower than 1% in Western countries to more than 10% in SouthEastern countries, most part of Africa and Equatorial South America. Inhigh HBV chronic carrier prevalence area, vertical transmission frominfected mother to neonate is the most frequent mode of contaminationand almost always results in chronic hepatitis (90% of eases). This ratecan be lowered to 15% by preventive vaccination of infected babiesimmediately after birth. In Western countries, infection occurs mostlikely during adulthood through horizontal transmission, via body fluidssuch as blood, semen, saliva, resulting in acute and self recoveringinfection in 85% of patients but nevertheless to chronic infection in15% of cases.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a member of the hepadnaviridae and primarilyinfects the liver, replicating in hepatocytes. The infectious particlesare the so called 42-45 nm “Dane particles” which consist of an outerlipoprotein envelope which contains three different surface proteins(HBs) and an inner nucleocapsid, the major structural protein of whichis the core protein (HBcAg). Within the nucleocapsid is a single copy ofthe HBV genome linked to the viral polymerase protein (P). In additionto 42-45-nm virions, the blood of HBV-infected patients contains 20-nmspheres made of HBcAg and host-derived lipids which are released frominfected cells. These spheres outnumber the virions by a factor of10⁴-10⁶.

The HBV genome is a relaxed circular partially double-stranded DNA ofapproximately 3,200 nucleotides consisting of a full-length negativestrand and a shorter positive strand. It contains 4 overlapping openreading frames (ORFS), C, S, P and X. The C ORF encodes the core protein(or HBcAg), a 183 amino acid-long protein which constitutes the HBVnucleocapsid and a second protein found in the serum of patients duringvirus replication known as HBcAg which contains a precore N-terminalextension and a part of HBcAg. The C-terminus of the core protein isvery basic and contains 4 Arg-rich domains which are predicted to bindnucleic acids as well as numerous phosphorylation sites (thephosphorylation state of core is associated with conformational changesin the capsid particle as described in Vu and Sommers, 1994, J. Virol.68:2965). The S ORF encodes three surface proteins all of which have thesame C terminus but differ at their N-termini due to the presence ofthree in-frame ATG start codons that divide the S ORF into threeregions, S (226 amino acids), pre-S2 (55 amino acids) and pre-S1 (108amino acids), respectively. The large-surface antigen protein (L) isproduced following translation initiation at the first ATG start codonand comprises 389 amino acid residues (preS1-preS2-S). The middlesurface antigen protein (M) results from translation of the S region andthe pre-S2 region starting at the second start ATG whereas the smallsurface antigen protein of 226 amino acids (S, also designated HBsAg)results from translation of the S region initiated at the third startATG codon. The HBV surface proteins are glycoproteins with carbohydrateside chains (glycans) attached by N-glycosidic linkages. The P ORFencodes the viral polymerase and the X ORF contains a protein known asthe X protein, which is thought to be a transcriptional activator.

After virions enter hepatocytes, by an as-yet-unknown receptor,nucleocapsids transport the genomic HBV DNA to the nucleus, where therelaxed circular DNA is converted to covalently closed circular DNA(cccDNA). The cccDNA functions as the template for the transcription offour viral RNAs, which are exported to the cytoplasm and used as mRNAsfor translation of the HBV proteins. The longest (pre-genomic) RNA alsofunctions as the template for HBV replication, which occurs innucleocapsids in the cytoplasm. Some of the HBV DNA andpolymerase-containing capsids are then transported back to the nucleus,where they release the newly generated relaxed circular DNA to formadditional cccDNA. With a half-life longer than the one of hepatocytes,the cccDNA is responsible for the persistence of HBV. Other capsids areenveloped by budding into the endoplasmic reticulum and secreted afterpassing through the Golgi complex.

A number of preclinical and clinical studies have emphasized theimportance of CD4+ and CD8+ T cell immune responses for effectiveanti-viral response (Ferrari et al, 1990, J Immul, 145:3442; Penna etal, 1996, J Clin Invest, 98:1185; Penna et al, 1997, Hepatology,25:1022). That is to say, patients naturally having recovered fromhepatitis B mounted multi-specific and sustained responses mediated by Thelper (T_(H)) and cytotoxic T (CTL) lymphocytes which are readilydetectable in peripheral blood. Upon recognition of viral peptides, CTLacquire the capacity to either cure HBV-infected cells via anon-cytopathic, cytokine mediated inhibition of HBV replication and/orto kill them via perforin-Fas ligand and TNFα-mediated death pathways.Both effector functions have been observed during resolution of acutehepatitis B and this type 1 T-cell (Th1) response persists afterclinical recovery. It often coincides with an elevation of serumalanine-aminotransferase (ALT) levels and with appearance of HBcAgspecific IgM and IgG. Anti-HBe and anti-HBs antibodies appear later andindicate a favorable outcome of infection. HBsAg-specific antibodies areneutralizing, mediate protective immunity and persist for life afterclinical recovery. Chronic HBV infection is, however, only rarelyresolved by the immune system. When this occurs, viral Clearance isassociated with increased CTL activity and increased ALT levels causedby a destruction of infected hepatocytes by the immune system. However,the vast majority of chronically infected patients show weak andtemporary CD4 and CD8 T cell immune responses that are antigenicallyrestricted and ineffective to clear viral infection, although individualHBV-specific T-cell clones have been isolated and expanded from liverbiopsies. The reason for this alteration of the effector functions ofthe cellular immune response in chronic hepatitis B is currently notknown. However it was shown that functional T cell responses can bepartially restored in some patients when the viral load is below athreshold of 10⁶ IU/mL (Webster et al 2004, J. Virol, 78:5707). Thesedata are clearly encouraging and emphasize the need for immunomodulatorystrategies capable of inducing an effective T-cell response.

Ideally, treatment of chronic viral hepatitis B should first permit tosuppress HBV replication before irreversible liver damage, so as toeliminate the virus, prevent disease progression to cirrhosis or livercancer and improve patient survival Conventional treatment of chronichepatitis B includes pegylated interferon-alpha (IFNa) andnucleoside/nucleotide analogues (NUCs) such as lamivudine, and more:recently entecavir, telbivudine, adefovir and tenofovir (EASL ClinicalPractice Guidelines: management of chronic hepatitis B, 2009). IFNa is apotent antiviral molecule, whereby inhibiting viral replication, whichhowever, causes serious side effects in merely 25-30% of patients. NUCsact as competitive inhibitors of HBV polymerase aimed to inhibit thereverse transcription of the pre-genomic RNA into the negative DNAstrand and then the double stranded viral DNA. They limit the formationof new virions, but are ineffective to eliminate the supercoiled cccDNAhidden in the nucleus of infected hepatocytes which constitutes a sourceof new progeny viruses. This can explain why NUC efficacy is temporaryand viral rebound occurs immediately after cessation of treatment,requiring patients to stay life long under treatment. In addition,long-term efficacy is also limited due to emergence of resistant HBVmutants (more than 24% after one year and approximately 66% after fouryears of lamivudine treatment as discussed in Leung et al., 2001,Hepatology 33:1527) although newer NUCs (entecavir, telbivudine andtenofovir) showed much fewer occurrences of drug-resistant HBV mutants,while increasing suppression of HBV DNA. Long-term treatment data withthese new drugs are, however, limited and this higher efficacy has notbeen correlated with a significantly higher rate of HBs-seroconversion.

Besides antiviral therapies, efforts are currently made to developsupplemental therapies aiming at improved host's immune responses,specifically those mediated by cytotoxic T and helper T lymphocytes. Alarge majority of existing immunotherapy approaches have focused on theuse of HBV surface protein(s), S preS1 and/or preS2 (Smith et al., 1983,Nature 302:490; Lubeck et al., 1989, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86:6763;Adkins et al., 1998, BioDrugs 10:137; Loirat et al., 2000, J. Immunol.165:4748; Funuy-Ren et al. 2003, J. Med. Virol. 71:376; Kasaks et al.,2004, J. Gen..Virol 85:2665; Xiangming Li et al., 2005, Intern. Immunol.17:1293; Mancini-Bourguine et al., 2006, Vaccine 24:4482; Vandepapeliereet al., 2007, Vaccine 25:8585). Encouraging results were obtained atleast with respect to the stimulation of immune responses. For example,Mancini-Bourguine et al. (2006, Vaccine 24:4482) reported inductionand/or recall T cell responses in HBV chronically infected patientsinjected with a preS2-S-encoding DNA vaccine, which is a good indicationthat the immune system is still operational in these patients.

HBcAg was also used as an immunogen (Yi-Ping Xing et al., 2005, World J.Gastro, 11:4583) as well as chimeric HBcAg capsids bearing foreignepitopes on their surface (WO92/11368; WO00/32625; Koletzki et al.,1997, J. Gen, Virol. 78:2049). The most promising location for insertingepitopes from the point of view of immunogenicity seems to be the siteof an outer loop predicted to be on the surface of HBcAg in the vinicityof position 80 (Argos et al. 1988, EMBO J. 7:819). Schmid et al. (1992,J, Virol, 66:106) and Borisova et al. (1993, J. Viral. 67:3696) wereable to insert preS1 and HBsAg epitopes in this region and reportedsuccessful immunization with the chimeric particles.

Multivalent vaccine candidates aimed to simultaneously target multipleHBV antigens have also been investigated, Notably, a polyepitope DNAvaccine encoding a fusion polypeptide of multiple cytotoxicT-lymphocytes (CTL) and helper T-lymphocyte (HTL) epitopes present inenvelope, core and polymerase proteins was shown to elicit multiple CTLand HTL, responses in preclinical mouse models (Depla et al., 2008, J.Virol, 82:435). Several vaccine formulations based on a mixture of DNAplasmids encoding HBsAg, HBcAg and HBV polymerase were developed(WO2005/056051; W02008/020656) and demonstrated specific anti-HBVcellular and humoral responses in transgenic mouse model of Chronichepatitis B (Chae Young Kim et al., 2008, Exp, Mol, Medicine 40:669).Phase I clinical trials were initiated in South Korea in HBV carriers incombination with lamivudine treatment (Yang et al., 2006, Gene Then13:1110).

Accordingly, there still exists a need for alternative immunotherapeuticapproaches for inducing immune responses in a more potent and effectivemanner, especially cell-mediated immune responses, in an individual inneed thereof such as an HBV chronically infected patient. Moreover,there is a need to provide vector-based composition capable ofexpressing the HBV antigen in a stable and sustained manner.

This technical problem is solved by the provision of the embodiments asdefined in the claims.

Other and further aspects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be apparent from the following description of thepresently preferred embodiments of the invention. These embodiments aregiven for the purpose of disclosure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, in a first aspect, the present invention provides animmunogenic composition comprising at least one polypeptide or a nucleicacid molecule encoding said at least one polypeptide, wherein said atleast one polypeptide is selected from the group consisting of:

-   -   (i) A polymerase moiety comprising at least 450 amino acid        residues of a polymerase protein originating from a first HBV        virus;    -   (ii) A core moiety comprising at least 100 amino acid residues        of a core protein originating from a second HBV virus; and    -   (iii) An env moiety comprising one or more immunogenic domain(s)        of 15 to 100 consecutive amino acid residues of a HBsAg protein        originating from a third HBV virus; or    -   Any combination of said polymerase moiety, core moiety, env        moiety, said nucleic acid molecule encoding said polymerase        moiety, said nucleic acid molecule encoding said core moiety        and/or said nucleic acid molecule encoding said env moiety.

DEFINITIONS

As used herein throughout the entire application, the terms “a” and “an”are used in the sense that they mean “at least one”, “at least a first”,“one or more” or “a plurality” of the referenced compounds or steps,unless the context dictates otherwise. For example, the term “a cell”includes a plurality of cells including a mixture thereof.

The term “and/or” wherever used herein includes the meaning of “and”,“or” and “all or any other combination of the elements connected by saidterm”.

The term “about” or “approximately” as used herein means within 10%,preferably within 8%, and more preferably within 5% of a given value orrange.

As used herein, when used to define products, compositions and methods,the term, “comprising” (and any form of comprising, such as “comprise”and “comprises”), “having” (and any form of having, such as “have” and“has”), “including” (and any form of including, such as “includes” and“include”) or “containing” (and any form of containing, such as“contains” and “contain”) are open-ended and do not exclude additional,unrecited elements or method steps. “Consisting essentially of” meansexcluding other components or steps of any essential significance. Thus,a composition consisting essentially of the recited components would notexclude trace contaminants and pharmaceutically acceptable vehicles.“Consisting of” means excluding more than trace elements of othercomponents or steps. For example, a polypeptide “consists of” an aminoacid sequence when the polypeptide does not contain any amino acids butthe recited amino acid sequence. A polypeptide “consists essentially of”an amino acid sequence when such an amino acid sequence is present witheventually only a few additional amino acid residues. A polypeptide“comprises” an amino acid sequence when the amino acid sequence is atleast part of the final amino acid sequence of the polypeptide. Such apolypeptide can have a few up to several hundred additional amino acidsresidues.

The terms “amino acids”, “residues” and “amino acid residues” aresynonyms and encompass natural amino acids as well as amino acid analogs(e.g. non-natural, synthetic and modified amino acids, including D or Loptical isomers).

The terms “polypeptide”, “peptide” and “protein” are used hereininterchangeably to refer to polymers of amino acid residues whichcomprise nine or more amino acids bonded via peptide bonds. The polymercan be linear, branched or cyclic and may comprise naturally occurringand/or amino acid analogs and it may be interrupted by non-amino acids.As a general indication, if the amino acid polymer is long (e.g. morethan 50 amino acid residues), it is preferably referred to as apolypeptide or a protein whereas if it is 50 amino acids long or less,it is referred to as a “peptide”.

Within the context of the present invention, the terms “nucleic acid”,“nucleic acid molecule”, “polynucleotide” and “nucleotide sequence” areused interchangeably and define a polymer of any length of eitherpolydeoxyribonucleotides (DNA) (e.g., cDNA, genomic DNA, plasmids,vectors, viral genomes, isolated DNA, probes, primers and any mixturethereof) or polyribonucleotides (RNA) molecules (e.g., mRNA, antisenseRNA) or mixed polyribo-polydeoxyribonucleotides. They encompass singleor double-stranded, linear or circular, natural or syntheticpolynucleotides. Moreover, a polynucleotide may comprise non-naturallyoccurring nucleotides, such as methylated nucleotides and nucleotideanalogs (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,525,711, U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,955 or EPA 302175 as examples of modifications) and may be interrupted bynon-nucleotide components. If present, modifications to the nucleotidemay be imparted before or after polymerization.

As used herein, the term “immunogenic composition” refers to aformulation which comprises 1, 2, 3, 4 or more component(s) describedhereinafter (e.g. the polymerase moiety, the core moiety, the envmoiety, the nucleic acid molecule encoding the polymerase moiety, thenucleic acid molecule encoding the core moiety and/or the nucleic acidmolecule encoding the env moiety) and optionally other components (e.g.adjuvant, carrier, diluent, etc). The immunogenic composition of thepresent invention will typically be in a form that is capable of beingadministered to a host organism and induces a protective or therapeuticimmune response sufficient to induce or stimulate anti-HBV immunity,resulting in a therapeutic benefit such as prevent an HBV infection,reduce and/or ameliorate at least one condition caused by or associatedwith an HBV infection (e.g. reduce the viral load, reduce or delay therisk of hepatic lesions such as cirrhosis or liver cancer, improve liverhistory, etc), and/or is reduce serum HBcAg or HBsAg level or both,and/or induce HBe seroconversion, HBs seroconversion or both and/orenhance the efficacy of another anti-HBV therapy or prophylaxis. Uponintroduction in a host organism, the immunogenic composition of thepresent invention is able to provoke an immune response including, butnot limited to, the production of antibodies and/or cytokines and/or theactivation of cytotoxic cells, B, T-lymphocytes, antigen presentingcells, helper T cells, dendritic cells, NK cells, leading to theproduction of innate immune response and/or specific humoral and/orcellular immune responses against at least one HBV antigen/epitope.

An “immunogenic domain” refers to a structural portion of an HBV proteincapable of being bound by an antibody or T cell receptor. Typically,such an immunogenic domain contains one or more B and/or T epitope(s),in particular. CTL car T_(H) epitopes or both, and are involved inrecognition by a particular antibody, or in the context of an MHC (MajorHistocompatibility Complex), by T-cell receptors. An “epitope”corresponds to a minimal peptide motif (usually a set of 9-11 amino acidresidues) that together form a site recognized by an antibody, T-cellreceptor or HLA molecule. Those residues can be consecutive (linearepitope) or not (conformational epitope that includes residues that arenot immediately adjacent to one another). Recognition of a T-cellepitope by a T-cell is generally believed to be via a mechanism whereinT-cells recognize peptide fragments of antigens which are bound to classI or class II MHC molecules expressed on antigen-presenting cells.

As used herein, “HBV” and “hepatitis B virus” are used interchangeablyand refer to any member of the hepadnaviridae (see e.g. Ganem andSchneider in Hepadnaviridae (2001) “The viruses and their replication”(pp 2923-2969), Knipe D M et al., eds. Fields Virology, 4th ed.Philadelphia, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins or subsequent edition).Extensive phylogenetic analyses have led to the classification ofhepatitis B viruses into 8 major genotypes (A to H). which show sequencedivergence by at least 8%. The various HBV genotypes show distinctgeographic distribution and can display heterogeneous disease symptomsand/or clinical outcome. The various HBV were classified in ninedifferent subtypes (ayw1, ayw2, ayw3, ayw4, ayr, adw2, adw4, adrq+ andadqr−) in connection with HBsAg-associated serology (see review byMamum-Al Mahtab et al., 2008, Hepatobiliary Pancrease Dis Int 5:457;Schaeffer, 2007, World Gastroenterol. 7:14; Norder et al., 1993, S. GenVirol. 74:1341). Each genotype and serotype encompasses different HBVstrains and isolates. An isolate corresponds to a specific virusisolated from a particular source of HBV (e.g. a patient sample or otherbiological HBV reservoir) whereas a strain encompasses various isolateswhich are very close each other in terms of genomic sequences.

A number of HBV suitable for use in the context of the present inventionare described in the art, especially in Genbank, Exemplary HBV ofgenotype A include without limitation isolate HB-JI444AF and strainHB-JI444A (accession number AP007263). Exemplary HBV of genotype Binclude without limitation clone pJDW233 (accession number D00329),isolate HBV/14611 (accession number AF121243), HBV-B1 identified in 2001by Hou, et al. (GenBank accession number AF282917.1), HBV strainWhutj-37 (GenBank accession number AY2933309.1) identified by Zhang etal. (2005, Arch, Virol, 150, 721-741), the Chinese HBV strain GDH1identified by He et al. (GenBank accession number AY766463.1) and HBVisolate 57-1 subtype adw identified by Jiang et al. (GenBank accessionnumber AY518556.1). Exemplary HBV of genotype C include withoutlimitation isolate AH-1-ON980424 (accession number AB113879), strainHCC-3-TT (accession number AB113877), HBV isolate SWT3.3 identified byFang et al. (GenBank accession number EU916241.1), HBV isolate 1-185identified by Zhu et al. (GenBank accession number AY306136.1), HBVstrain C1248 identified by Tu et al. (GenBank accession numberDQ975272.1), HBV isolate CHN-H155 (GenBank accession number DQ478901.1)identified by Wang et al. (2007, J. Viral Hepat 14, 426-434) and HBVisolate GZ28-1 identified by Zhou et al. (GenBank accession numberFF688062). Exemplary HBV of genotype D include without limitationisolates KAMCHATKA27 (accession number AB188243), ALTAY136 (accessionnumber AB188245) and Y07587 described in Stoll-Becker et al. (1997, J.Virol. 71:5399) and available at Genbank under accession number Y07587as well as the HBV isolate described under accession number AB267090.Exemplary HBV of genotype E include without limitation isolate HB-JI411Fand strain HB-JI411 (accession number AP007262), Exemplary HBV ofgenotype F include without limitation isolates HBV-BL597 (accessionnumber AB214516) and HBV-BL592 (accession number AB166850). ExemplaryHBV of genotype G include without limitation isolate HB-JI444GF andstrain HB-JI444G (accession number AP007264). Exemplary HBV of genotypeH include without limitation isolate HBV ST0404 (accession numberAB298362) and isolate HB-JI260F and strain HB-JI260 (accession numberAP007261). However, the present invention is not limited to theseexemplary HBV. Indeed the nucleotide and amino acid sequences can varybetween different HBV isolates and genotypes and this natural geneticvariation is included within the scope of the invention as well asnon-natural modification(s) such as those described below.

As used herein, a “native HBV protein” refers to a protein, polypeptideor peptide (e.g. the polymerase protein, the core protein or the HBsAg,etc) that can be found, isolated, obtained from a source of HBV innature as distinct from one being artificially modified or altered byman in the laboratory. Thus, this term would include naturally-occurringHBV proteins polypeptides or peptides unless otherwise specified. Suchsources in nature include biological samples (e.g. blood, plasma, sera,semen, saliva, tissue sections, biopsy specimen etc.) collected from asubject infected or that has been exposed to HBV, cultured cells (suchas HepG2.2.15, HuH6-C15 (Sureau et al., 1986, Cell 47:37; Sells et al.,1987, Proc. Natl. Acad, Sci. 84(4):1005); HuH7.TA61 or HuH7.TA62 (Sun etal., 2006, J Hepatol. 45(5):636), tissue cultures as well as recombinantmaterials. Recombinant materials include without limitation HBV isolate(e.g. available in depositary institutions), HBV genome, genomic RNA orcDNA libraries, plasmids containing HBV genome or fragment(s) thereof orany prior art vector known to include such elements.

Nucleotide sequences encoding the various HBV proteins can be found inspecialized data banks (e.g. those mentioned above) and in theliterature (see e.g. Valenzuela et al., 1980. The nucleotide sequence ofthe hepatitis B viral genome and the identification of the major viralgenes (pp 57-70) in “Animal Virus Genetics”; eds B. Fields, et al.;Academic Press Inc., New York and Vaudin et al., 1988, J. Gen, Virol.69:1383). Representative examples of native polymerase, core and HBsAgpolypeptides are set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1-3, respectively (SEQ ID NO: 1provides the amino acid sequence of the native polymerase protein of HBVisolate Y07587, SEQ ID NO: 2. provides the amino acid sequence of thenative core protein of HBV isolate Y07587 and SEQ ID NO: 3 provides theamino acid sequence of the native env (HBsAg) of HBV isolate Y07587).Nucleotide sequences encoding the native polymerase, core and HBsAg ofY07587 HBV are shown for illustrative purposes in SEQ ID NO: 4, 5 and 6,respectively. However, as discussed above, the HBV proteins are notlimited to these exemplary sequences and genetic variation is includedin the scope of the invention.

As used herein, the term “moiety” (e.g. polymerase, core and/or envmoieties) refers to a protein, polypeptide or peptide that originatesfrom a native HBV protein, polypeptide or peptide after beingartificially modified or altered by man in the laboratory as describedherein. The term “modified” encompasses deletion, substitution oraddition of one or more nucleotide/amino acid residue(s), anycombination of these possibilities (e.g. degeneration of the nativenucleotide sequence to reduce homology between the HBV sequences encodedby the composition of the invention, introduction of appropriaterestriction sites) as well as non natural arrangements (e.g. fusionbetween two or more HBV proteins, polypeptides or peptides ormoiety/ies). When several modifications are contemplated, they canconcern consecutive residues and/or non consecutive residues.Modification(s) can be generated by a number of ways known to thoseskilled in the art, such as site-directed mutagenesis (e.g. using theSculptor™ in vitro mutagenesis system of Amersham, Les Ullis, France),PCR mutagenesis, DNA shuffling and by chemical synthetic techniques(e.g. resulting in a synthetic nucleic acid molecule). Themodification(s) contemplated by the present invention encompass silentmodifications that do not change the amino acid sequence of the encodedHBV polypeptides, as well as modifications that are translated into theencoded polypeptide resulting in a modified amino acid sequence ascompared to the corresponding native one. The term “originate” (ororiginating) is used to identify the original source of a molecule butis not meant to limit the method by which the molecule is made which canbe, for example, by chemical synthesis or recombinant means.

Preferably, each of the HBV moieties in use in the present inventionretains a high degree of amino acid sequence identity with thecorresponding native HBV protein, over either the full length protein orportion(s) thereof. The percent identity between two polypeptides is afunction of the number of identical positions shared by the sequences,taking into account the number of gaps which need to be introduced foroptimal alignment and the length of each gap. Various computer programsand mathematical algorithms are available in the art to determine thepercentage of identity between amino acid sequences, such as for examplethe Blast program (e.g. Altschul et al., 1997, Nucleic Acid Res.25:3389; Altschul et al., 2005, FEBS J. 272:5101) available at NCBI. Thesame can be applied for nucleotide sequences. Programs for determiningnucleotide sequence homology are also available in specialized data base(Genbank or the Wisconsin Sequence Analysis Package), for exampleBESTFIT, FASTA and GAP programs.

For example, further to the modifications described hereinafter (e.g.reduced enzymatic activities, etc), any or an of the HBV moietiescomprised or encoded by the composition of the invention can be modifiedso as to be representative of a specific genotype, and thus comprise anamino acid sequence corresponding to a consensus or near consensussequence which is typically determined after sequence alignment ofvarious HBV polypeptides of a particular genotype.

The term “combination” as used herein refers to any kind of combinationbetween at least two of the components comprised or encoded by theimmunogenic composition of the invention and any arrangement possible ofthe various components with a specific preference for 2 or 3 of the saidcomponents. This encompasses mixture of two or more polypeptides,mixture of two or more nucleic acid molecules/vectors, mixture of one ormore polypeptide(s) and one or more nucleic acid molecules/vectors, aswell as fusion of two or more nucleic acid molecules so as to provide asingle polypeptide chain bearing two or more HBV moieties (e.g. nonnatural arrangement).

In a preferred embodiment, the immunogenic composition of the inventioncomprises a combination of at least two of said polymerase moiety, coremoiety, env moiety or of at least two of said nucleic acid moleculesencoding said polymerase moiety, said nucleic acid molecule encodingsaid core moiety and/or said nucleic acid molecule encoding said envmoiety. A particularly preferred composition of the invention isselected from the group consisting of (i) a composition comprising acombination of a polymerase moiety and a core moiety as defined hereinor a combination of nucleic acid molecules encoding said polymerasemoiety and said core moiety; (ii) a composition comprising a combinationof a core moiety and a env moiety as defined herein or a combination ofnucleic acid molecules encoding said core moiety and said env moiety;and (iii) a composition comprising a combination of a polymerase moiety,a core moiety and a env moiety as defined, herein or a combination ofnucleic acid molecules encoding said polymerase moiety, said core moietyand said env moiety.

The term “fusion” or “fusion protein” as used herein refers to thecombination with one another of at least two polypeptides (orfragment(s) thereof) in a single polypeptide chain. Preferably, thefusion between the various polypeptides is performed by genetic means,i.e. by fusing in frame the nucleotide sequences encoding each of saidpolypeptides. By “fused in to frame”, it is meant that the expression ofthe fused coding sequences results in a single protein without anytranslational terminator between each of the fused polypeptides. Thefusion can be direct (i.e. without any additional amino acid residues inbetween) or through a linker. The presence of a linker may facilitatecorrect formation, folding and/or functioning of the fusion protein. Thepresent invention is not limited by the form, size or number of linkersequences employed and multiple copies of a linker sequence may beinserted at the junction between the fused polypeptides. Suitablelinkers in accordance with the invention are 3 to 30 amino acids longand composed of repeats of amino acid residues such as glycine, serine,threonine, asparagine, alanine and/or proline (see for exampleWiederrecht et al., 1988, Cell 54, 841; Aumailly et al., 1990 FEBS Lett.262, 82; and Dekker et al., 1993, Nature 362, 852), e.g. Ser-Gly-Ser orGly-Ser-Gly-Ser-Gly linker.

As used herein, the term “heterologous hydrophobic sequence” refers to apeptide of hydrophobic nature (that contains a high number ofhydrophobic amino acid residues such as Val, lieu, Ile, Met, Phe, Tyrand Trp residues). “Heterologous” refers to a sequence that is foreignto the native HBV protein, polypeptide or peptide from which originatethe selected HBV moiety, It can be a peptide foreign to an REV virus(e.g. a peptide from a measle or a rabies virus) or a peptide from anHBV virus but in a position in which it is not ordinarily found withinthe viral genome. The heterologous hydrophobic sequence can be used inframe at the N-terminus, at the C-terminus or within an HEN % moiety andmay play a role in polypeptide trafficking, facilitate polypeptideproduction or purification, prolong half-life, among other things.Suitable heterologous hydrophobic sequences in accordance with theinvention are 15 to 100 amino acids long and contain a highlyhydrophobic domain.

The term “vector” as used herein refers to both expression andnon-expression vectors and includes viral as well as non viral vectors,including extrachromosomal vectors (e.g. multicopy plasmids) andintegrating vectors designed for being incorporated into the hostchromosome(s). Particularly important in the context of the inventionare vectors for transferring nucleic acid molecule(s) in a viral genome(so-called transfer vectors), vectors for use in immunotherapy (i.e.which are capable of delivering the nucleic acid molecules to a hostorganism) as well as expression vectors for use in various expressionsystems or in a host organism.

As used herein, the term “viral vector” encompasses vector DNA as wellas viral particles generated thereof, Viral vectors can bereplication-competent, or can be genetically disabled so as to bereplication-defective or replication-impaired. The term“replication-competent” as used herein encompasses replication-selectiveand conditionally-replicative viral vectors which are engineered toreplicate better or selectively in specific host cells (e.g. tumoralcells).

As used herein, the term “regulatory sequence” refers to any sequencethat allows, contributes or modulates the expression of a nucleic acidmolecule in a given host cell or organism, including replication,duplication, transcription, splicing, translation, stability and/ortransport of the nucleic acid or one of its derivative (i.e. mRNA) intoa host cell or organism.

As used herein, the term “host cell” should be understood broadlywithout any limitation concerning particular organization in tissue,organ, or isolated cells. Such cells may be of a unique type of cells ora group of different types of cells and encompass bacteria, lower andhigher eukaryotic cells as well as cultured cell lines, primary cellsand proliferative cells. This term includes cells which can be or hasbeen the recipient of the composition(s), nucleic acid molecule(s),vector(s) or infectious viral particle(s) of the invention and progenyof such cells.

The term “host organism” refers to a vertebrate, particularly a memberof the mammalian species and especially domestic animals, farm animals,sport animals, and primates including humans. Preferably, the hostorganism is a patient suffering from a chronic HBV infection. Theinfecting HBV can be from the same genotype or serotype as at least oneof the first, second or third HBV in use in the present invention.

As used herein, the term “isolated” refers to a protein, polypeptide,peptide, nucleic acid molecule, host cell or virus that is removed fromits natural environment (i.e. separated from at least one othercomponent(s) with which it is naturally associated).

As used herein a “therapeutically effective amount” is a dose sufficientfor the alleviation of one or more symptoms normally associated with anHBV infection or any disease or condition caused by or associated withan HBV infection. When prophylactic use is concerned, this term means adose sufficient to prevent or to delay the establishment of an HBVinfection. “Therapeutic” compositions are designed and administered to ahost organism already infected by an HBV with the goal of reducing orameliorate at least one disease or condition caused by or associatedwith said HBV infection, eventually in combination with one or moreconventional therapeutic modalities as described herein (e.g. treatmentwith nucleoside or nucleotide analogs). For example, a therapeuticallyeffective amount for inducing an immune response could be that amountnecessary to cause activation of the immune system (e.g. resulting inthe development of an anti-HBV response). The term “cancer” encompassesany cancerous conditions including diffuse or localized tumors,metastasis, cancerous polyps as well as preneoplastic lesions (e.g.cirrhosis).

As used herein, a “pharmaceutically acceptable vehicle” is intended toinclude any and all carriers, solvents, diluents, excipients, adjuvants,dispersion media, coatings, antibacterial and antifungal agents, andabsorption delaying agents, and the like, compatible with pharmaceuticaladministration

In accordance with the present invention, said polymerase, core and/orenv moieties comprised or encoded by the composition of the inventionmay originate independently from any HBV genotype, strain or isolateidentified at present time, such as those described above in connectionwith the term “HBV”. Further, each of the polymerase, core and envmoieties may originate from a native corresponding HBV protein or from amodified HBV polypeptide (e.g. modified so as to be representative of aspecific genotype). Thus, the first, second and third HBV virus fromwhich originate the polymerase, core and env moieties comprised orencoded by the composition of the present invention can be independentlyfrom the same or different genotypes, serotypes and/or isolates. Forexample, using HBV moieties originating from two or three different HBVgenotypes permits to provide protection against a broader range of HBVgenotypes.

In one embodiment, it could be interesting to adapt the immunogeniccomposition of the invention to a specific geographic region by using atleast one HBV moiety from HBV genotype(s) that is/are endemic in thisregion. For illustrative purposes, genotypes A and C are the mostprevalent in the United States whereas patients from Western Europeancountries are infected mostly with genotypes A and D and those in theMediterranean basin by genotype D. Limited data from India suggest thatgenotypes A and D are most common in India. On the other hand, genotypesB and C are the most prevalent in China. For example, a composition ofthe invention destined to European countries may comprise a polymerasemoiety which originates from genotype A and core and env moieties whichoriginate from genotype D or vice versa. Alternatively, the polymeraseand core moieties can be from genotype A and env moiety from genotype D.As another example, a composition of the invention destined to Europeancountries and the USA may comprise polymerase, core and env moietieswhich independently originate from genotype A, C and D. On the otherhand, a composition of the is invention destined to China may compriseor encode polymerase, core and env moieties which independentlyoriginate from genotype B and/or C.

One may also adapt the immunogenic composition of the invention to thepopulation of patients to be treated. For example, genotype A is morecommon among American Whites and African Americans and those withsexually acquired HBV infections whereas genotypes B and C, on the otherhand, are common among Asian Americans, patients born in Asia and thosewith maternal to infant transmission of HBV infection. HBV genotypeshave also been associated with different clinical outcomes (Schaeffer etal., 2005, J. Viral. Hepatitis 12:111) with genotypes D and F beingassociated with more severe disease progression and a worse prognosisthan genotype A (Sanchez-Tapias et al., 2002, Gastroenterology123:1848). It is within the reach of the skilled person to adapt thecomposition of the invention according to the population and/orgeographic region to be treated by choosing appropriate HBV genotypes,serotypes, strain and/or isolates.

According to an advantageous embodiment, at least two of the first,second and third HBV viruses, and preferably all, are from the same HBVgenotype, and particularly from genotype D. Independently, they canoriginate from the same isolate, with a specific preference for thefirst, second and third HBV viruses being from HBV isolate Y07587.Preferably, the polymerase moiety in use in the present inventioncomprises an amino acid sequence which exhibits at least 80% ofidentity, advantageously at least 85% of identity, preferably at least90% of identity, more preferably at least 95% of identity, and even morepreferably 100% identity with the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ IDNO: 1 or part(s) thereof comprising at least 450 amino acid residues.Alternatively or in combination, the core moiety in use in the presentinvention comprises an amino acid sequence which exhibits at least 80%of identity, advantageously at least 85% of identity, preferably atleast 90% of identity, more preferably at least 95% of identity, andeven more preferably 100% identity with the amino acid sequence shown inSEQ ID NO: 2. or part(s) thereof comprising at least 100 amino acidresidues. Alternatively or in combination, the one or more immunogenicdomains of the env moiety in use in the present invention comprises anamino acid sequence which exhibits at least 80% of identity,advantageously at least 85% of identity, preferably at least 90% ofidentity, more preferably at least 95% of identity, and even morepreferably 100% identity with part(s) of 15-100 amino acid residueswithin the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 3.

Polymerase Moiety

According to one embodiment, the polymerase moiety comprised or encodedby the composition of the invention is modified as compared to thecorresponding native HBV polymerase.

An appropriate modification is the truncation of at least 20 amino acidresidues and at most 335 amino acid residues normally present at theN-terminus of a native HBV polymerase. This modification is particularlyrelevant for compositions of the invention also comprising a secondpolypeptide so as to reduce or delete the overlapping portions betweenpolymerase and core moieties. It is within the reach of the skilledperson to adapt the truncation to the composition of the inventionwithin the recited range at least 20 amino acid residues and at most 335amino acid residues. With respect to a native HBV polymerase, thepolymerase moiety used in the context of the present invention isadvantageously truncated by at least 30 amino acid residues and at most200 amino acid residues, desirably by at least 35 amino acid residuesand at most 100 amino acid residues, preferably by at least 40 aminoacid residues and at most 60 amino acid residues, and more preferably atleast 45 and at most 50 amino acid residues, with a special preferencefor a truncation including the first 47 or the 46 amino acid residuesfollowing the initiator Met residue located at the N-terminus of anative HBV polymerase. Preferably, the truncation extends from position1 (Met initiator) or 2 to position 47 of SEQ IP NO: 1.

A preferred embodiment is directed to a polymerase moiety comprising anamino acid sequence which exhibits at least 80% of identityadvantageously at least 85% of identity, preferably at least 90% ofidentity, more preferably at least 95% of identity, and even morepreferably 100% identity with the portion of the amino acid sequenceshown in SEQ ID NO: 1 extending from approximately position 48 toapproximately position 832; and even more preferably to a polymerasemoiety comprising an amino acid sequence which exhibits at least 80% ofidentity, advantageously at least 85% of identity, preferably at least90% of identity, more preferably at least 95% of identity, and even morepreferably 100% identity with the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ IDNO: 7.

Alternatively or in combination, the polymerase moiety in use in theinvention is modified so as to exhibit a reduced reverse-transeriptase(RTase) enzymatic activity with respect to a native HBV polymerase.Advantageously, said reduction of RTase activity is provided by one ormore mutation(s) in the domain responsible for RTase enzymatic activity.

Structural and functional organization of HBV polymerases wasinvestigated almost 20 years ago (see for example Radziwill et al.,1990, J. Virol. 64:613). They are multifunctional proteins with threefunctional domains that catalyze the major steps in replication(priming, DNA synthesis and removal of RNA templates) and a nonessential spacer which are arranged in the following order:

-   -   the first domain extending from position 1 to approximately        position 177 is responsible for HBV terminal protein activity,    -   the spacer is located from approximately position 178 to        approximately position 335,    -   the DNA polymerase domain extending from approximately position        336 to approximately position 679 is responsible for RTase        activity, and    -   the RNase H domain from approximately position 680 to the        C-terminus (approximately position 832) is involved in RNase H        activity.

Four residues have been involved in the RTase activity, forming a motif“YMDD” (for Tyr, Met, Asp and Asp residues) generally present fromapproximately position 538 to approximately position 541 of a native HBVpolymerase (e.g. corresponding to positions 538, 539, 540 and 541 in SEQID NO: 1 and to positions 492, 493, 494 and 495 in SEQ ID NO: 7) and thepresent invention encompasses any mutation(s) in this motif or elsewherein the RTase domain that correlate with a significant reduction (i.e. atleast a 10 fold reduction) or ablation of the RTase activity whileretaining immunogenic properties. Representative examples of suitableRTase-deficient polymerase mutants are described in the literature, e.g.in Radziwill et al. (1990, J. Virol. 64:613), in Bartenschlager et al.(1990, J. Virol. 64:5324) and in Jeong et al. (1996, Biochem Bioph ResCommun. 223(2):264). Preferably, the polymerase moiety in use in thepresent invention comprises the substitution of the first Asp residue ofthe YMDD motif (corresponding to position 540 in SEQ ID NO: 1 and toposition 494 of SEQ ID NO: 7) or of the amino acid residue located in anequivalent position in a native HBV polymerase to any amino acid residueother than Asp, with a special preference for a substitution to a Hisresidue (D540H mutation). Reduction or ablation of RTase activity can beperformed using assays well known in the art (e.g. the endogenouspolymerase assays described in Radziwill et al., 1990, J. Virol.64:613).

Alternatively or in combination, the polymerase moiety in use in thepresent invention is modified so as to exhibit a reduced RNase Henzymatic activity with respect to a native HBV polymerase.Advantageously, said reduction of RNase H activity is provided by one ormore mutation(s) in the domain responsible for RNase H enzymaticactivity. As discussed above, the functional domain involved in RNase Hactivity has been mapped within the C-terminal portion of HBVpolymerase, more particularly from position 680 to the C-terminalposition 832 and the present invention encompasses any mutation(s) inthis domain that correlate with a significant reduction (i.e. at least a10 fold reduction) or ablation of the RNase H activity and which is notdeleterious to immunogenic properties. Representative examples ofsuitable RNase H-deficient polymerase mutants are described in theliterature, e.g. in Radziwill et al. (1990, J. Virol. 64:613), inBartenschlager at al. (1990, J. Virol. 64:5324). Preferably, thepolymerase moiety in use in the present invention comprises thesubstitution of the Glu residue corresponding to position 718 in SEQ IDNO: 1 and to position 672 of SEQ ID NO: 7 or of the amino acid residuelocated in an equivalent position in a native HBV polymerase to anyamino acid residue other than Glu, with a special preference for asubstitution to a His residue (E718H mutation). Reduction or ablation ofRNase H activity can be performed using assays well known in the art(e.g. in vitro RNaseH activity assays or DNA-RNA tandem moleculeanalysis described in Radziwill et al., 1990, J. Virol. 64:613 or in Leeet al., 1997, Biochem, Bioph. Res, Commun. 233(2):401).

Preferably, the polymerase moiety in use in the present invention ismutated so as to reduce or ablate both the RTase and the RNaseactivities and comprises the modifications discussed above in connectionwith these enzymatic functions, with a special preference for mutationsD540H and E718H.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is directed to apolymerase moiety comprising, alternatively essentially consisting of oralternatively consisting of an amino acid sequence which exhibits atleast 80% of identity, advantageously at least 85% of identity,preferably at least 90% of identity, more preferably at least 95% ofidentity, and even more preferably 100% identity with the amino acidsequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 8 or with the amino acid sequence shown inSEQ ID NO: 7 with the substitution of the Asp residue in position 494 toan His residue and the substitution of the Gin residue in position 672to an His residue.

In another and preferred embodiment, the polymerase moiety in use in thepresent invention is fused in frame to heterologous hydrophobicsequence(s) so as to improve synthesis, and/or stability, and/orpresentation at the surface of the expressing host cells and/orpresentation to host's MHC class I and/or MHC class II antigens.Suitable heterologous hydrophobic sequences include sequences such assignal and/or trans-membrane peptides permitting to target thepolymerase moiety in the secretion pathway. Such peptides are known inthe art. Briefly, signal peptides are generally present at theN-terminus of membrane-presented or secreted polypeptides and initiatetheir passage into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). They comprise 15 to35 essentially hydrophobic amino acids which are then removed by aspecific ER-located endopeptidase to give the mature polypeptide.Trans-membrane peptides are usually highly hydrophobic in nature andserve to anchor the polypeptides in the cell membrane (see for exampleBranden and Tooze, 1991, in Introduction to Protein Structure p.202-214, NY Garland; WO99/03885). The choice of the trans-membraneand/or signal peptides which can be used in the context of the presentinvention is vast. They may be obtained from any membrane-anchoredand/or secreted polypeptide (e.g. cellular or viral polypeptides) suchas those of immunoglobulins, tissue plasminigen activator, insulin,rabies glycoprotein, the HIV virus envelope glycoprotein or the measlesvirus F protein or may be synthetic. The preferred site of insertion ofthe signal peptide is the N-terminus downstream of the codon forinitiation of translation and that of the trans-membrane peptide is theC-terminus, for example immediately upstream of the stop codon.Moreover, a linker peptide can be used to connect the signal and/ortrans-membrane peptides to the polymerase moiety.

Other hydrophobic sequence(s) can be employed in the context of theinvention, such as those generally present in envelope or membrane houndproteins, including HBsAg. Of particular interest in the context of thepresent invention is the fusion of the polymerase moiety with one ormore of the immunogenic domains described herein (env1, env2, env3and/or env4) which are of hydrophobic nature. The one or morehydrophobic domain(s) can be fused in frame at the N-terminus, at theC-terminus or within the polymerase moiety.

Preferably, in the context of the invention, the polymerase moiety inuse in the invention is fused in frame to the signal and trans-membranepeptides of the rabies glycoprotein. As illustrated in the appendedexample section, said rabies signal sequence is fused in frame at the Nterminus and said rabies transmembrane sequence is fused in frame at theC-terminus of said polymerase moiety. A most preferred embodiment isdirected to a polymerase moiety comprising, alternatively essentiallyconsist of, or alternatively consists of an amino acid sequence whichexhibits at least 80% of identity, advantageously at least 85% ofidentity, particularly at least 90% of identity, preferably at least 95%of identity and more preferably 100% identity with the amino acidsequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 9,

Core Moiety

Alternatively or in combination with the composition described above,the present invention also provides a composition comprising a coremoiety originating from a second HBV. As described herein in connectionwith HBV virus, the core moiety in use in the invention originates froman HBV which is the same or different of the HBV virus from whichoriginates the polymerase moiety. Preferably, the core and thepolymerase moieties both originate from a genotype D HBV, with a specialpreference for the Y07587 HBV isolate or alternatively, from a HBVgenotype prevalent in China (e.g. genotype B or C).

According to one embodiment, the core moiety in use in this inventioncan be a native HBV core (e.g. that shown in SEQ ID NO: 2) or a modifiedcore as compared to the corresponding native HBV core that retains atleast 100 amino acid residues of a core protein, with a specificpreference for a core moiety comprising from 120 to 180 amino acidresidues, desirably from 125 to 148 amino acid residues and preferablyfrom 130 to 143 amino acid residues (e.g. approximately 140 amino acidresidues).

An appropriate modification is a truncation. Desirably, the truncationencompasses at least 10 amino acid residues and at most 40 amino acidresidues normally present at the C-terminus of a native HBV core orwithin the C-terminal part (i.e. the portion encompassing the last 40amino acid residues). This modification is particularly relevant forcompositions of the invention also comprising a polymerase moiety so asto reduce or delete the overlapping portions between polymerase and coremoieties. It may also be relevant for deleting a NLS (nuclearlocalization signal) within this region of core and/or for inhibitinginteraction with HBV polymerase. It is within the reach of the skilledperson to adapt the truncation to the composition of the inventionwithin the recited range at least 10 amino acid residues and at most 40amino acid residues. Appropriate truncations include 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32,33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 or 40 consecutive amino acid residuesnormally present at the C-terminus of a native HBV core or within itsC-terminal portion. With respect to a native HBV core, the core moietyused in the context of the present invention is advantageously truncatedby at least 20 amino acid residues and at most 40 amino acid residues,preferably by at least 30 amino acid residues and at most 38 amino acidresidues, and more preferably by at least 34 amino acid residues and atmost 37 amino acid residues located at the C-terminus of a native HBV orwithin the C-terminal part with a special preference for a truncationincluding the last 35 amino acid residues of a native HBV core (in otherterms, the truncation extends from approximately position 149 to theC-terminus of the core polypeptide).

Of particular interest is a core moiety comprising an amino acidsequence which exhibits at least 80% of identity, advantageously atleast 85% of identity, preferably at least 90% of identity, morepreferably at least 95% of identity, and even more preferably 100%identity with the portion of the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:2 extending from position 1 to approximately position 148 and even morepreferably a core moiety comprising an amino acid sequence whichexhibits at least 80% of identity, advantageously at least 85% ofidentity, preferably at least 90% of identity, more preferably at least95% of identity, and even more preferably 100% identity with the aminoacid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 10.

Alternatively or in combination, the core moiety is modified so as toexhibit a reduced recognition of and/or interaction with an HBV envelopeprotein with respect to a native HBV core. Advantageously, saidreduction of recognition interaction is provided by one or moremutation(s) in a region located internally in the vinicity of residue 80that is predicted to form an outer loop exposed on the surface of coreparticles (Argos et al., 1988, EMBO J. 7:819). Reduction or ablation ofrecognition of or interaction with a env protein can be performed usingassays well known in the art (such as electron microscopy, analysis ofnucleocapsids formation in cells, secreted virions following transienttransfection in HuH7, as described in Seitz et al, 2007, EMBO J., 26:416 or in Ponsel et al., 2003, J. Virol. 77(1): 416).

A preferred modification comprises deletion of one or more amino acidresidues in the region of the core extending from approximately position75 to approximately position 85 (corresponding to residues 75-85 of SEQID NO: 2 and SEQ ID NO: 10), with a special preference for the deletionof the portion of the core moiety extending from approximately isposition 77 to approximately position 84 (corresponding to residues77-84 of SEQ ID NO: 2 and SEQ ID NO: 10). A preferred core moietycomprises, alternatively essentially consists of or alternativelyconsists of an amino acid sequence which exhibits at least 80% ofidentity, advantageously at least 85% of identity, preferably at least90% of identity, more preferably at least 95% of identity, and even morepreferably 100% identity with the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ IDNO: 11 or with the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 2 lackingresidues 77.84.

Env Moiety

Alternatively or in combination with the composition described above,the present invention also provides a composition comprising an envmoiety. Said env moiety comprises one or more immunogenic domain(s) ofat least 15 consecutive amino acid residues present in a Has proteinoriginating from a third HBV virus. Preferably, each of said immunogenicdomains corresponds to a portion of at least 20 amino acids and at most100 amino acids present in a HBsAg protein either a native one or amodified one (e.g. modified so as to be representative of a specificgenotype). Each of the immunogenic domains can originate from the sameor different HBV virus(es) which can be the same or different withrespect to HBV viruses from which originate the core and polymerasemoieties. Preferably, each of the env immunogenic domains originatesfrom a genotype D HBV, and especially from the Y07587 HBV isolate oralternatively, from a HBV genotype prevalent in China (e.g. genotype Bor C).

Advantageously, each of the one or more immunogenic domains comprises Tcell epitopes specific for T helper (T_(H)) cells and/or for cytotoxic T(CTL) cells which can be restricted to various MHC class I and/or classII antigens (e.g. A2, A24, DR, DP, etc). Such epitopes have beendescribed in the art (WO93/03764; WO94/19011; Desombere et al., 2000,Clin, Exp. Immunol 122:390; Loirat et al., 2000, J. Immunol, 165:4748;Schirmbeck et al., 2002, 1. Immunol 168:6253; Depla et al, 2008, J,Virol. 82:435) and it is within the reach of the skilled person todesign suitable immunogenic domain(s) as described herein within therecited range of 15 to 100 amino acid residues which include(s) B, T_(H)and/or CTL epitopes from a native env protein (e.g. that shown in SEQ IDNO: 3). Preferably, the env moiety comprised in or encoded by thecomposition of the invention does not include any immunogenic domain(s)originating from preS1 and preS2 regions.

The present invention encompasses env moiety comprising one immunogenicdomain as well as those comprising two, three or more.

Desirably, the one or more immunogenic domain(s) in use in the presentinvention is/are selected from the group consisting of:

-   -   The portion of an env protein (HBsAg) extending from position        14-51 (env 1 domain);    -   The portion of an env protein (HBsAg) extending from position        165-194 (env 2 domain);    -   The portion of an env protein (HBsAg) extending from position        81-406 (env 3 domain);    -   The portion of an env protein (HBsAg) extending from position        202-226 (env 4 domain); and    -   Any combination thereof.

Particularly suitable immunogenic domain(s) for use in the presentinvention comprises, alternatively essentially consists of oralternatively consists of an amino acid sequence which exhibits at least80% of identity, advantageously at least 85% of identity, preferably atleast 90% of identity, more preferably at least 95% of identity, andeven more preferably 100% identity with any of the amino acid sequencesshown in SEQ ID NO: 12-45.

In the context of the invention, the combination of immunogenic domainscan be in the form of a mixture of individual immunogenic domains in thecomposition of the invention or in the form of a fusion in frame betweentwo or more immunogenic domains in any arrangement possible (e.g. fusionor mixture of env1-env2, env2-env1, env1-env3, env3-env1, env1-env4,env4-env1, env2-env-3, env3-env2, env2-env4, env-4-env2, env3-env4,env-4-env3, env1-env2-env3, env2-env1-env3, env1-env2-env4, etc.).Moreover, the combination can comprise a single copy or several copiesthereof (e.g. env1-env-2-env1, env1-env4, env1, etc. The fusion betweeneach immunogenic domain can be direct or through a linker.

Env moieties of particular interest in the context of the inventioncomprise the fusion of two or three immunogenic domains shown in SEQ IDNO: 12-15, with a special preference for an env1-env2 fusion comprising,alternatively essentially consisting of or alternatively consisting ofan amino acid sequence which exhibits at least 80% of identity,advantageously at least 85% of identity, preferably at least 90% ofidentity, more preferably at least 95% of identity, and even morepreferably 100% identity with the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ IDNO: 16 or an env1-env2-env4 fusion comprising, alternatively essentiallyconsisting of or alternatively consisting of an amino acid sequencewhich exhibits at least 80% of identity, advantageously at least 85% ofidentity, preferably at least 90% of identity, more preferably at least95% of identity, and even more preferably 100% identity with the aminoacid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 17.

According to a specific embodiment, the polymerase, core and/or envmoieties comprised in or encoded by the composition of the invention canbe fused in frame by pairs or all together. For example, one mayenvisage the fusion of the polymerase and env moieties in a singlepolypeptide chain. Alternatively, the core and env moieties can be fusedin frame in a single polypeptide chain. Here again, the encoding nucleicacid sequences can be used either directly or through a linker.Advantageously, the env moiety is fused in frame to the C-terminus ofthe core or polymerase moiety.

Preferred examples of fusion polypeptides of the core moiety with theenv moiety are selected from the group consisting of:

-   -   A polypeptide comprising, or alternatively consisting        essentially of, or alternatively consisting of an amino acid        sequence which exhibits at least 80% of identity, advantageously        at least 85% of identity, preferably at least 90% of identity,        more preferably at least 95% of identity, and even more        preferably 100% identity with the amino acid sequence shown in        SEQ ID NO: 18 (core*t-env1);    -   A polypeptide comprising, or alternatively consisting        essentially of or alternatively consisting of an amino acid        sequence which exhibits at least 80% of identity, advantageously        at least 85% of identity, preferably at least 90% of identity,        more preferably at least 95% of identity, and even more        preferably 100% identity with the amino acid sequence shown in        SEQ ID NO: 19 (core*t-env1-env2); and    -   A polypeptide comprising, or alternatively consisting        essentially of or alternatively consisting of an amino acid        sequence which exhibits at least 80% of identity, advantageously        at least 85% of identity, preferably at least 90% of identity,        more preferably at least 95% of identity, and even more        preferably 100% identity with the amino acid sequence shown in        SEQ ID NO: 20 (core-enol-env2-env4) or with the portion of the        amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 20 starting at residue 1        and ending at residue 251 (core-env1-env2) or with the portion        of the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 20 starting at        residue 1 and ending at residue 221 (core-env1); or deleted        versions thereof lacking residues 77-84 in the core moiety.

In the context of the invention, the polymerase moiety, the core moietyand/or the env moiety comprised or encoded by the composition of theinvention may further comprise additional modifications. Suitablemodifications are those which are beneficial to the synthesis,processing, stability and solubility of the resulting polypeptide (e.g.those aimed to modify potential cleavage sites, potential glycosylationsites and/or membrane anchorage as described herein) as well as thosewhich are beneficial to the immunogenicity of the resulting composition(e.g. incorporation or fusion with one or more compounds capable ofenhancing immunogenic properties). Such compounds capable of enhancingimmunogenic properties have been described in the literature andinclude, without limitation, calreticulin (Cheng et al., 2001, J. Clin.invest. 108:669), Mycobacterium tuberculosis heat shock protein 70(HSP70) (Chen et al., 2000, Cancer Res. 60:1035), ubiquitin (Rodriguezet al., 1997, J. Virol. 71:8497), bacterial toxin such as thetranslocation domain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A (ETA(dIII))(Hung et al., 2001 Cancer Res. 61:3698) as well as T helper epitope(s)such as Pan-Dr peptide (Sidney et al., 1994, immunity 1:751), pstS1 GCGepitope (Vordermeier et al., 1992, Eur. J. Immunol. 22:2631), tetanustoxoid peptides P2TT (Panina-Bordignon et al, 1989, Eur. J. Immunol,19:2237) and P30TT (Demotz et al., 1993, Eur. J. Immunol. 23:425),influenza epitope (Lamb et al., 1982, Nature 300:66) and hemaglutininepitope (Rothbard et al., 1989, Int. Immunol. 1:479).

Nucleic Acid Molecule

The present invention also provides isolated nucleic acid moleculesencoding independently or in combination the polymerase, core and envmoieties in use in the present invention as well as compositionscomprising such nucleic acid molecule(s).

Of particular interest are:

-   -   Nucleic acid molecules which encode polymerase moieties as        described herein, with a special preference for those comprising        the amino acid sequence shown in any of SEQ ID NO: 7, 8, 9 or        the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 7 with the        substitution of the Asp residue in position 494 to an His        residue and the substitution of the Glu residue in position 672        to an His residue;    -   Nucleic acid molecules which encode core moieties described        herein, with a special preference for those comprising the amino        acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 10 or 11;    -   Nucleic acid molecules which encode env moieties described        herein, with a special preference for those comprising the amino        acid sequence shown in any of SEQ ID NO: 12-17; and    -   Nucleic acid molecules which encode fused core and env moieties        described herein, with a special preference for those comprising        the amino acid sequence shown in any of SEQ ID NO: 18, 19 or 20        or the portion of the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 20        starting at residue 1 and ending at residue 251 (core-env1-env2)        or the portion of the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 20        starting at residue 1 and ending at residue 221 (core-env1); or        deleted versions thereof lacking core residues 77-84 of SEQ ID        NO: 20.

Desirably, the nucleic acid molecules of the invention can be optimizedfor providing high level expression in a particular host cell ororganism, e.g. mammalian, yeast (e.g. Saccharomyces cerevisiae,Saccharornyces pombe or Pichia pastoris) or bacteria (e.g. E. coli,Bacillus subtilis or Listeria). It has been indeed observed that, whenmore than one codon is available to code for a given amino acid, thecodon usage patterns of organisms are highly non-random (see for exampleWada et al., 1992, Nucleic Acids Res. 20:2111) and the utilisation ofcodons may be markedly different between different hosts (see forexample Nakamura et al., 1996, Nucleic Acids Res. 24:214). As thenucleotide sequences used in the invention are mostly of viral origin(HBV), they may have an inappropriate codon usage pattern for efficientexpression in host cells such as bacterial, lower or higher eukaryoticcells. Typically, codon optimisation is performed by replacing one ormore “native” (e.g. −1HBV) codon corresponding to a codon infrequentlyused in the host cell of interest by one or more codon encoding the sameamino acid which is more frequently used. It is not necessary to replaceall native codons corresponding to infrequently used codons sinceincreased expression can be achieved even with partial replacement.Moreover, some deviations from strict adherence to optimised codon usagemay be made to accommodate the introduction of restriction site(s) intothe resulting nucleic acid molecule.

Further to optimization of the codon usage, expression in the host cellor organism can further be improved through additional modifications ofthe nucleotide sequence. For example, the nucleic acid molecule of theinvention can be modified so as to prevent clustering of rare,non-optimal codons being present in concentrated areas and/or tosuppress or modify at least partially negative sequence elements whichare expected to negatively influence expression levels. Such negativesequence elements include without limitation the regions having veryhigh (>80%) or very low (<30%) GC content; AT-rich or GC-rich sequencestretches; unstable direct or inverted repeat sequences; RNA secondarystructures; and/or internal cryptic regulatory elements such as internalTATA-boxes, chi-sites, ribosome entry sites, and/or splicingdonor/acceptor sites. Another embodiment of the invention pertains tofragments of the nucleic acid molecule of the invention, e.g.restriction endonuclease and PCR-generated fragments. Such fragments canbe used as probes, primers or fragments encoding an immunogenic portionof the first and/or second polypeptide.

A preferred nucleic acid molecule according to the invention is selectedfrom the group consisting of:

-   -   A nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence which        exhibits at least 80% of identity with the nucleotide sequence        shown in SEQ ID NO: 21 (encoding the truncated Pol of SEQ ID NO:        7);    -   A nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence which        exhibits at least 80% of identity with the nucleotide sequence        shown in SEQ ID NO: 22 (encoding the mutated Pol of SEQ ID NO:        8);    -   A nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence which        exhibits at least 80% of identity with the nucleotide sequence        shown in SEQ ID NO: 21 with the substitution of the G nucleotide        in position 1480 to a C, of the G nucleotide in position 2014 to        a C and of the A nucleotide in position 2016 to a T (encoding        the truncated Pol of SEQ ID NO: 7 with the substitution of the        D540H and E718H mutations);    -   A nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence which        exhibits at least 80% of identity with the nucleotide sequence        shown in SEQ ID NO: 23 (encoding the truncated and mutated        Pol-TMR of SEQ ID NO: 9);    -   A nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence which        exhibits at least 80% of identity with the nucleotide sequence        shown in SEQ ID NO: 24 (encoding core*t-env1 of SEQ ID NO: 18);    -   A nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence which        exhibits at least 80% of identity with the nucleotide sequence        shown in SEQ ID NO: 25 (encoding core*t-env1-env2 of SEQ ID NO:        19); and    -   A nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence which        exhibits at least 80% of identity with the nucleotide sequence        shown in SEQ ID NO: 26 (encoding core-env1-env2-env4 of SEQ ID        NO: 20) or with the portion of the nucleotide sequence shown in        SEQ ID NO: 26 starting at nucleotide 1 and ending at nucleotide        753 (encoding core-env1-env2) or with the portion of the        nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 26 starting at        nucleotide 1 and ending at nucleotide 663 (encoding core-env1);        or deleted versions thereof lacking the portion extending from        the G in position 229 to the A in position 252 of SEQ ID NO: 26        (corresponding to deletion of residues 77-84 in the core        moiety).

The nucleic acid molecules of the present invention can be generatedusing sequence data accessible in the art and the sequence informationprovided herein. The DNA sequence coding for each of the HBVpolypeptides can be isolated directly from HBV-containing cells, cDNAand genomic libraries, viral genomes or any prior art vector known toinclude it, by conventional molecular biology or PCR techniques, and canbe modified (e.g. as described herein). Alternatively, the nucleic acidmolecule of the invention can also be generated by chemical synthesis inautomatised process (e.g. assembled from overlapping syntheticoligonucleotides as described for example in Edge, 1981, Nature 292,756; Nambair et al., 1984, Science 223:1299; Jay et al., 1984, J. Biol.Chem. 259:6311).

Also provided by the present invention are vectors comprising one ormore nucleic acid molecule(s) of the present invention as well ascompositions comprising such vector(s).

A variety of host-vector systems may be used in the context of thepresent invention, including bacteriophage, plasmid or cosmid vectorsadapted to expression in prokaryotic host organisms such as bacteria(e.g. E. coli, Bacillus subtilis or Listeria); vectors adapted toexpression in yeast (e.g. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces pombe,Pichia pastoris); virus expression vectors (e.g. baculovirus) adapted toexpression in insect cell systems (e.g. Sf 9 cells); virus or plasmidexpression vectors (e.g. Ti plasmid, cauliflower mosaic virus CaMV;tobacco mosaic virus TMV) adapted to expression in plant cell systems;as well as plasmid and viral vectors adapted to expression in highereukaryotes cells or organisms. Such vectors are largely described in theliterature and commercially available (e.g. in Stratagene, AmershamBiosciences, Promega, etc.). Representative examples of suitable plasmidvectors include, without limitation, pREP4, pCEP4 (Invitrogene), pCI(Promega), pCDM8 (Seed, 1987, Nature 329, 840) and pMT2PC (Kaufman etal., 1987, EMBO J. 6:187), pVAX and pgWiz (Gene Therapy System Inc;Himoudi et al., 2002, J. Virol. 76:12735). A number of viral vectors canalso be utilized in the context of the invention derived from a varietyof different viruses (e.g. retrovirus, adenovirus, AAV, poxvirus, herpesvirus, measle virus, foamy virus, alphavirus, vesicular stomatis virusand the like).

Of particular interest are adenoviral vectors which have a number ofwell-documented advantages for gene transfer or for recombinantproduction (for a review, see “Adenoviral vectors for gene therapy”,2002, Ed D. Curiel and J. Douglas, Academic Press). The adenoviralvectors for use in accordance with the present invention can be derivedfrom a variety of human or animal sources (e.g. canine, ovine, simianadenovirus, etc). Any serotype can be employed with a special preferencefor human adenoviruses and a specific preference for subgenus C such asAd2 (Ad2), 5 (Ad5), 6 (Ad6), subgenus B such as 11 (Ad11), 34 (Ad34) and35 (Ad35) and subgenus D such as 19 (Ad19), 24 (Ad24), 48 (Ad48) and 49(Ad49). It may also be advantageous to use animal Ad with a specialpreference for chimp Ad, such as chimp Ad3 (Peruzzi et al., 2009,Vaccine 27:1293) and chimp Ad63 (Dudareva et al., 2009, vaccine 27:3501)The cited adenovirus are available from the American Type CultureCollection (ATCC, Rockville, Md.) or have been the subject of numerouspublications describing their sequence, organization and methods ofproducing, allowing the artisan to apply them (see for example U.S. Pat.No. 6,133,028; U.S. Pat. No. 6,110,735; WO 02/40665; WO 00/50573; EP1016711; Vogels et al., 2003, J. Virol. 77:8263; WO00/70071; WO02/40665;WO2004/001032; WO2004/083418; WO02004/097016; WO2005/010149).

In one embodiment, the adenoviral vector of the present invention isreplication-defective. Preferred replication-defective adenoviralvectors are E1-defective (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,136,594 andU.S. Pat. No. 6,013,638), with an E1 deletion extending fromapproximately positions 459 to 3328 or from approximately positions 459to 3510 (by reference to the sequence of the human adenovirus type 5disclosed in the GeneBank under the accession number M 73260 and inChroboczek et al., 1992, Virol. 186:280). The cloning capacity canfurther be improved by deleting additional portion(s) of the adenoviralgenome (all or part of the non essential E3 region or of other essentialE2, E4 regions as described in WO94/28152; Lusky et al., 1998, J. Virol72:2022).

The nucleic acid molecule(s) of the present invention can be inserted inany location of the adenoviral genome, with a specific preference forinsertion in replacement of the E1 region. It/they may be positioned insense or antisense orientation relative to the natural transcriptionaldirection of the region in question.

Other suitable viral vectors in the context of the invention are derivedfrom poxviruses (see for example Cox et al. in “Viruses in Human GeneTherapy” Ed J. M. Hos, Carolina Academic Press). In the context of thepresent invention, a poxyiral vector may be obtained from any member ofthe poxyiridae, in particular canarypox, fowlpox and vaccinia virus, thelatter being preferred. Suitable vaccinia viruses include withoutlimitation the Copenhagen strain (Goebel et al., 1990, Virol. 179:247and 517; Johnson et al., 1993, Virol. 196:381), the Wyeth strain and themodified Ankara (MVA) strain (Antoine et al., 1998, Virol. 244:365). Thegeneral conditions for constructing recombinant poxvirus are well knownin the art (see for example EP 206 920; Mayr et al., 1975, Infection3:6; Sutter and Moss, 1992, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89:10847; U.S.Pat. No. 6,440,422). The nucleic acid molecule of the present inventionis preferably inserted within the poxyiral genome in a non-essentiallocus. Thymidine kinase gene is particularly appropriate f r insertionin Copenhagen vaccinia vectors (Hruby et al., 1983, Proc. Natl. Acad.Sci. USA 80:3411; Weir et al., 1983, J. Virol. 46:530) and deletion IIor III for insertion in MVA vector (Meyer et al., 1991, J. Gen. Virol.72:1031; Sutter et al., 1994, Vaccine 12:1032). The present inventionalso encompasses vectors (e.g. plasmid DNA) complexed to lipids orpolymers to form particulate structures such as liposomes, lipoplexes ornanoparticles. Such technologies are available in the art (see forexample Arangoa et al., 2003, Gene Ther. 10:5; Eliaz et al., 2002, GeneTher. 9:1230 and Betageri et al., 1993, “Liposome drug deliverysystems”, Technomic Publishing Company, Inc).

According to a preferred embodiment, the vectors of the inventioncomprise the nucleic acid molecule(s) of the invention in a formsuitable for expression in a host cell or organism, which means that thenucleic acid molecule(s) is/are placed under the control of one or moreregulatory sequences, appropriate to the vector and/or the host cell. Itwill be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the choice of theregulatory sequences can depend on such factors as the host cell, thelevel of expression desired, etc.

The promoter is of special importance and suitable promoters useful inthe context of the present invention include constitutive promoterswhich direct expression of the nucleic acid molecule(s) in many types ofhost cell and those which direct expression of the nucleic acidmolecule(s) only in certain host cells (e.g. liver-specific regulatorysequences) or in response to specific events or exogenous factors (e.g.by temperature, nutrient additive, hormone or other ligand).

Promoters suitable for constitutive expression in mammalian cellsinclude but are not limited to the cytomegalovirus (CMV) immediate earlypromoter (Boshart et al., 1985, Cell 41:521), the RSV promoter, theadenovirus major late promoter, the phosphoglycero kinase (PGK) promoter(Adra et al., 1987, Gene 60:65), and the thymidine kinase (TK) promoterof herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1. Vaccinia virus promoters areparticularly adapted for expression in poxyiral vectors. Representativeexample include without limitation the vaccinia 7.5K, H5R, 11K7.5 (Erbset al., 2008, Cancer Gene Ther. 15:18), TK, p28, plt and K1L promoter,as well as synthetic promoters such as those described in Chakrabarti etal. (1997, Biotechniques 23:1094, in connection with the pSE/Lpromoter), Hammond et al. (1997, J. Virological Methods 66:135) andKumar and Boyle (1990, Virology 179:151) as well as early/late chimericpromoters. Liver-specific promoters include without limitation those ofHMG-CoA reductase (Luskey, 1987, Mol. Cell. Biol. 7:1881); sterolregulatory element 1 (SRE-1; Smith et al., 1990, J. Biol. Chem.265:2306); albumin (Pinkert et al., 1987, Genes Dev. 1:268); phosphoenolpyruvate carboxy kinase (PEPCK) (Eisenberger et al., 1992, Mol. Cell.Biol. 12:1396); human C-reactive protein (CRP) (Li et al., 1990, J.Biol. Chem. 265:4136); human glucokinase (Tanizawa et al., 1992, Mol.Endocrinology. 6:1070); cholesterol 7-alpha hydroylase (CYP-7) (Lee etal., 1994, J. Biol. Chem. 269:14681); alpha-1 antitrypsin (Ciliberto etal., 1985, Cell 41:531); insulin-like growth factor binding protein(IGFBP-1) (Babajko et al., 1993, Biochem Biophys. Res, Comm. 196:480);human transferrin (Mendelzon et al., 1990, Nucleic Acids Res. 18:5717);collagen type I (Houglum et al., 1994, J. Clin. Invest. 94:808) and FIX(U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,716) genes.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the regulatory elementscontrolling the expression of the nucleic acid molecule(s) of theinvention may further comprise additional elements for properinitiation, regulation and/or termination of transcription (e.g. polyAtranscription termination sequences), mRNA transport (e.g. nuclearlocalization signal sequences), processing (e.g. splicing signals), andstability (e.g. introns and non-coding 5′ and 3′ sequences), translation(e.g. an initiator Met, tripartite leader sequences, ribosome bindingsites, Shine-Dalgamo sequences, etc.) into the host cell or organism andpurification steps (e.g. a tag).

In accordance with the present invention, the nucleic acid molecules ofthe present invention encoding said polymerase moiety, said core moietyand/or said env moiety can be carried by the same vector or at least twovectors (e.g. two or three independent vectors). Thus the presentinvention encompasses a vector that carries the nucleic acid moleculesencoding said polymerase moiety, said core moiety and said env moiety aswell as independent vectors, each carrying only one or two of thenucleic acid molecules encoding said polymerase moiety, said core moietyand said env moiety. Such vector(s) are also provided by the presentinvention as well as compositions comprising such vector(s). When usingdifferent vectors, they can be from different origin or from the sameorigin. For example, one may envisage expression of one HBV moiety froma defective poxvirus (e.g. MVA) and expression of the two other moietiesfrom another poxvirus vector (e.g. a Copenhagen vector). As anotherexample, one may envisage a composition comprising an adenoviral vectorencoding the polymerase moiety and an adenoviral vector encoding thecore and env moieties. Alternatively, expression from different viralvectors (e.g. expression of the polymerase moiety from an adenoviralvector and expression of core and/or env moieties from MVA or viceversa) is also suitable in the context of the invention as well asexpression of the HBV moieties from plasmid and viral vector(s).

Preferred embodiments of the invention are directed to vectors selectedfrom the group consisting of:

-   -   (i) A MVA vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule placed under        the control of a vaccinia promoter such as the 7.5K promoter,        and encoding a polymerase moiety comprising an amino acid        sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 7, 8 or 9 or in SEQ ID NO: 7        with the substitution of the Asp residue in position 494 an His        residue and the substitution of the Glu residue in position 672        to an His residue. Preferably, said nucleic acid molecule is        inserted in deletion III of the MVA genome.    -   (ii) A MVA vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule placed        under the control of a vaccinia promoter such as the pH5r        promoter and encoding a core moiety and an env moiety comprising        an amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 18 or 19.        Preferably, said nucleic acid molecule is inserted in deletion        III of the MVA genome.    -   (iii) An E1-defective Ad vector comprising inserted in place of        the E1 region a nucleic acid molecule placed under the control        of the CMV promoter and encoding a polymerase moiety comprising        an amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 7, 8 or 9 or in        SEQ ID NO: 7 with the substitution of the Asp residue in        position 494 to an His residue and the substitution of the Glu        residue in position 672 to an His residue.    -   (iv) An E1-defective Ad vector comprising inserted in place of        the E1 region a nucleic acid molecule placed under the control        of the CMV promoter and encoding a core moiety and an env moiety        comprising an amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 18, 19        or or the portion of SEQ ID NO: 20 starting at residue 1 and        ending at residue 251 (core-env1-env2) or the portion of SEQ ID        NO: 20 starting at residue 1 and ending at residue 221        (core-env1).

As well as to a composition comprising vectors (i) and (ii) or (iii) and(iv).

If needed, the vector or composition of the invention can furthercomprise one or more transgene(s), e.g. a gene of interest to beexpressed together with the nucleic acid molecule(s) of the invention ina host cell or organism. Desirably, the expression of the transgene hasa therapeutic or protective activity to an HBV infection or any diseaseor condition caused by or associated with an 1HBV infection or is ableto enhance immunogenicity of the composition of the invention. Suitabletransgenes include without limitation one or more additional HBVpolypeptide(s)/peptide(s) or encoding nucleic acid molecule(s) such asthe X protein or fragment thereof, immunomodulators such as cytokine(e.g. IL-2, IL-7, IL-12, IL-15, IL-18, IL-21, IFNg), fusion of cytokines(such as those described in WO2005/14642) or their encoding nucleic acidmolecules as well as suicide gene products or encoding nucleic acidmolecules particularly useful in the context of treating liver carcinoma(such as cytosine deaminase (CDase), uracil phosphoribosyl transferase(UPRTase), the FCU-1 gene product (described in WO 99/54481) andderivatives thereof (described in WO2006/048768) which are to be usedwith the prodrug 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC). If a transgene is used, it canbe expressed in the form of a fusion with any of the nucleic acidmolecule of the invention or be expressed independently under thecontrol of appropriate regulatory elements. Further, it can be insertedin any location of the vector of the invention or in an independentvector which is used in combination with the vector(s) or composition ofthe invention.

In another aspect, the present invention provides infectious viralparticles comprising the nucleic acid molecules or vectors of thepresent invention as well as compositions comprising such infectiousviral particles.

Typically, such viral particles are produced by a process comprising thesteps of:

-   -   (a) introducing the viral vector of the invention into a        suitable cell line,    -   (b) culturing said cell line under suitable conditions so as to        allow the production of said infectious viral particle,    -   (c) recovering the produced infectious viral particle from the        culture of said cell line, and    -   (d) optionally purifying said recovered infectious viral        particle.

When the viral vector is defective, the infectious particles are usuallyproduced in a complementation cell line or via the use of a helpervirus, which supplies in trans the non functional viral genes. Forexample, suitable cell lines for complementing E1-deleted adenoviralvectors include the 293 cells (Graham et al., 1997, J. Gen. Virol. 36,59-72) as well as the HER-96 and PER-C6 cells (e.g. Fallaux et al.,1998, Human Gene Ther. 9, 1909-1917; WO097/00326). Cells appropriate forpropagating poxvirus vectors are avian cells, and most preferablyprimary chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF) prepared from chicken embryosobtained from fertilized eggs.

The infectious viral particles may be recovered from the culturesupernatant or from the cells after lysis. They can be further purifiedaccording to standard techniques (chromatography, ultracentriftgation ina cesium chloride gradient as described for example in WO96/27677,WO98/00524, WO98/22588, WO98/26048, WO00/40702, EP 1016700 andWO00/50573).

The present invention also encompasses vectors or viral particles thathave been modified to allow preferential targeting to a particulartarget cell (see for example Wickam et al., 1997, J. Virol. 71,8221-8229; Arnberg et al., 1997, Virol, 227, 239-244; Michael et al.,1995, Gene Therapy 2, 660-668; WO94/10323; WO02/96939 and EP 1 146 125).A characteristic feature of targeted vectors and viral particles of theinvention is the presence at their surface of a ligand capable ofrecognizing and binding to a cellular and surface-exposed component suchas a cell-specific marker (e.g. an HBV-infected cell), a tissue-specificmarker (e.g. a liver-specific marker), as well as a viral (e.g. HBV)antigen. Examples of suitable ligands include antibodies or fragmentsthereof directed to an HBV antigenic domain. Cell targeting can becarried out by genetically inserting the ligand into a polypeptidepresent on the surface of the virus (e.g. adenoviral fiber, penton, pIXor vaccinia p14 gene product).

The invention also relates to host cells which comprise the nucleic acidmolecules, vectors or infectious viral particles of the invention aswell as compositions comprising such host cells. In the context of theinvention, host cells include prokaryotic cells, lower eukaryotic cellssuch as yeast, and other eukaryotic cells such as insect cells, plantand mammalian (e.g. human or non-human) cells as well as complementingcells capable of complementing at least one defective function of areplication-defective vector of the invention (e.g. adenoviral vector)such as 293 and PERC.6 cells.

According to a specific embodiment of the invention, the host cell canbe further encapsulated. Cell encapsulation technology has beenpreviously described (Tresco et al., 1992, ASAIO J. 38, 17-23; Aebischeret al., 1996, Human Gene Ther. 7, 851-860).

Still a further aspect of the present invention is a method forproducing recombinant polymerase, core and/or env moieties, employingthe vectors, infectious viral particles and/or host cells of theinvention. The method of the present invention comprises (a) introducinga vector or an infectious viral particle of the invention into asuitable host cell to produce a transfected or infected host cell, (b)culturing in-vitro said transfected or infected host cell underconditions suitable for growth of the host cell, (c) recovering thepolymerase, core and/or env moiety(ies) from the cell culture, and (d)optionally, purifying the recovered polypeptide(s).

It is expected that those skilled in the art are knowledgeable in thenumerous expression systems available for producing the HBV moiety(ies)in appropriate host cells and of the methods for introducing a vector oran infectious viral particle into a host cell. Such methods include, butare not limited to, microinjection (Capechi et al., 1980, Cell 22:479),CaPO₄-mediated transfection (Chen and Okayama, 1987, Mol;. Cell Biol.7:2745), DEAE-dextran-mediated transfection, electroporation (Chu etal., 1987, Nucleic Acid Res. 15:1311), lipofection/liposome fusion(Felgner et al., 1987, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:7413), particlebombardement (Yang et al, 1990, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87:9568),gene guns, transduction, viral infection as well as directadministration into a host organism via various means.

The vectors of the invention can be used in association withtransfection reagents in order to facilitate introduction of the vectorin the host cell, such as polycationic polymers (e.g. chitosan,polymethacrylate, PEI, etc) and cationic lipids (e.g. DC-Chol/DOPE,transfectam lipofectin now available from Promega). Moreover, asdiscussed above, recombinant DNA technologies can be used to improveexpression of the nucleic acid molecule(s) in the host cell or organism,e.g. by using high-copy number vectors, substituting or modifying one ormore transcriptional regulatory sequences (e.g. promoter, enhancer andthe like), optimising the codon usage of the nucleic acid molecule(s) tothe host cell, and suppressing negative sequences that may destabilizethe transcript.

Host cells of the present invention can be cultured in conventionalfermentation bioreactors, flasks, and petri plates, Culturing can becarried out at a temperature, pH and oxygen content appropriate for agiven host cell. No attempts to describe in detail the various methodsknown for the production of proteins in prokaryote and eukaryote cellswill be made here.

The HBV moiety(ies) can then be purified by well-known purificationmethods including ammonium sulfate precipitation, acid extraction, gelelectrophoresis; filtration and chromatographic methods (e.g. reversephase, size exclusion, ion exchange, affinity, phosphocellulose,hydrophobic-interaction, hydroxylapatite, or high performance liquidchromatography). The conditions and technology to be used depend onfactors such as net charge, molecular weight, hydrophobicity,hydrophilicity and will be apparent to those having skill in the art.Moreover, the level of purification will depend on the intended use.

In another aspect, this invention provides a composition comprising atleast one of the polymerase, core and/or env moiety(ies), the encodingnucleic acid molecules, the vector(s), the infectious viral particle(s),or the host cell of the invention (also referred herein to “activeagent”) or any combination thereof (e.g. combination of polypeptides orvectors/viral particles encoding various HBV moieties as describedherein or combination of different genotypes). Preferably, thecomposition is a pharmaceutical composition which comprises apharmaceutically acceptable vehicle further to a therapeuticallyeffective amount of the active agent(s).

Suitably, the composition of the invention comprises a diluentappropriate for human or animal use. It is preferably isotonic,hypotonic or weakly hypertonic and has a relatively low ionic strength.Representative examples include sterile water, physiological saline(e.g. sodium chloride), Ringer's solution, glucose, trehalose orsaccharose solutions, Hank's solution, and other aqueous physiologicallybalanced salt solutions (see for example the most current edition ofRemington: The Science and Practice of Pharmacy, A. Gennaro, Lippincott,Williams & Wilkins). The composition of the invention is suitablybuffered in order to be appropriate for human use at a physiological orslightly basic pH (e.g. from approximately pH 7 to approximately pH 9).Suitable buffers include without limitation phosphate buffer (e.g. PBS),bicarbonate buffer and/or Tris buffer.

The composition can also contain other pharmaceutically acceptableexcipients for providing desirable pharmaceutical or pharmacodynamicproperties, including for example modifying or maintaining the pH,osmolarity, viscosity, clarity, colour, sterility, stability, rate ofdissolution of the formulation, modifying or maintaining release orabsorption into an the human or animal organism, promoting transportacross the blood barrier or penetration in a particular organ (e.g.liver). Suitable excipients include amino acids.

The pharmaceutically acceptable vehicles included in the composition ofthe invention must also permit to preserve its stability under theconditions of manufacture and long-term storage (i.e. at least onemonth) at freezing (e.g. −70° C., −20° C.), refrigerated (e.g. 4° C.) orambient temperatures. In this respect, formulations which areparticularly adapted to the composition of the invention include:

-   -   1M saccharose, 150 mM NaCl, 1 mM MgCl₂, 54 mg/1 Tween 80, 10 mM        Tris pH 8.5 (especially when the active agent is an adenoviral        vector), and    -   10 mg/ml manr itol, 1 mg/ml HSA, 20 mM Tris, pH 7.2, and 150 mM        NaCl    -   physiological saline

In addition, the composition of the invention may comprise one or moreadjuvant(s) suitable for systemic or mucosal application in humans.Preferably, the adjuvant is capable of stimulating immunity to thecomposition of the invention, especially a T cell-mediated immunity e.g.through the toll-like receptors (TLIR), such as TLR-7, TLR-8 and TLR-9.Representative examples of useful adjuvants include without limitationalum, mineral oil emulsion such as Freunds complete and incomplete(IFA), lipopolysaccharide or a derivative thereof (Ribi et al., 1986,Immunology and Immunopharmacology of Bacterial Endotoxins, Plenum Publ.Corp., NY, p407-419), saponins such as QS2 (Sumino et al., 1998, J.Virol. 72:4931; WO 98/56415), imidazo-quinoline compounds such asImiquimod (Suader, 2000, J. Am Acad Dermatol. 43:S6), S-27609 (Smorlesi,2005, Gene Ther. 12:1324) and related compounds such as those describedin WO2007/147529, cytosine phosphate guanosine oligodeoxynucleotidessuch as CpG (Chu et al., 1997, J. Exp. Med. 186:1623; Tritel et al.,2003, J. Immunol. 171:2358) and cationic peptides such as IC-31 (Kritschet al., 2005, J. Chromatogr Anal. Technol Biomed Life Sci 822:263).

The composition of the present invention is suitable for a variety ofmodes of administration, including systemic, topical and localizedadministration. Injection can be performed by any means, for example bysubcutaneous, intradermal, intramuscular, intravenous, intraperitoneal,intratumroral, intravascular, intraarterial injection or by directinjection into an artery (e.g. by hepatic artery infusion) or a veinfeeding liver (e.g. injection into the portal vein). Injections can bemade with conventional syringes and needles, or any other appropriatedevices available in the art. Alternatively the composition of thepresent invention may be administered via a mucosal route, such as theoral/alimentary, intranasal, intratracheal, intrapulmonary, intravaginalor intra-rectal route. Administration in the respiratory tract can beperformed through nebulisation or aerosolization of droplet, spray, ordry powdered compositions using a pressured container (e.g. with asuitable propellant such as dichlorodifluoromethane, propane, nitrogenand the like), or in a non-pressurized dispenser.

Topical administration can also be performed using transdermal means(e.g. patch and the like). In the context of the invention, a preferredcomposition is formulated for intramuscular and subcutaneous routes.

The composition of the invention can be in various forms, e.g. solid,liquid or frozen. Solid (e.g. dry powdered or lyophilized) compositionscan be obtained by a process involving vacuum drying and freeze-drying.For mucosal administration, the compositions can be formulated asgastroresistant capsules and granules for oral administration,suppositories for rectal or vaginal administration, eventually incombination with absorption enhancers useful to increase the pore sizeof the mucosal membranes. Such absorption enhancers are typicallysubstances having structural similarities to the phospholipid domains ofthe mucosal membranes such as sodium deoxycholate, sodium glycocholate,dimethyl-beta-cyclodextrin, lauryl-1-lysophosphatidylcholine).

The appropriate dosage can be adapted as a function of variousparameters, in particular the mode of administration; the compositionemployed; the age, health, and weight of the host organism; the natureand extent of symptoms; kind of concurrent treatment; the frequency oftreatment; and/or the need for prevention or therapy. Further refinementof the calculations necessary to determine the appropriate dosage fortreatment is routinely made by a practitioner, in the light of therelevant circumstances. For general guidance, suitable dosage for avirus-comprising composition varies from about 10⁵ to about 10¹³ vp(viral particles), iu (infectious unit) or pfu (plaque-forming units)depending on the vector and the quantitative technique used. Techniquesavailable to evaluate the quantity of vp, iu and pfu present in a sampleare conventional in the art. For example, the number of adenoviralparticles (vp) is usually determined by measuring the A260 absorbance,iu titers by quantitative DBP immunofuorescence and pfu by counting thenumber of plaques following infection of permissive cells. Preferablythe vp/iu ratio is below 100 in accordance with FDA guidelines. Dosesfrom about 5×10⁵ to about 10⁹ pfu are preferred for MVA-basedcomposition with a specific preference for doses of about 10⁷, about5×10⁷, about 10⁸ or about 5×10⁸ pfu. Concerning Ad-based compositions,preferred doses contain from about 10⁶ to about 10¹² vp, with a specificpreference for doses of about 10⁹, about 5×10⁹, about 10¹⁰, about 5×10¹⁰vp or about 10¹¹ vp. A composition based on vector plasmids may beadministered in doses of between 10 μg and 20 mg, advantageously between100 μg and 2 mg. A protein composition may be administered in one ormore doses of between 10 ng and 20 mg, with a special preference for adosage from about 0.1 μg to about 2 mg of the therapeutic protein per kgbody weight. The administration may take place in a single dose or adose repeated one or several times after a certain time interval.

The composition of the invention may be employed in methods for treatinga variety of diseases and pathologic conditions, especially those causedby or associated with an HBV infection. As used herein, the term“treatment” or “treating” encompasses prophylaxis and/or therapy. It isespecially useful for treating HBV chronic infection and/or liverlesions in HBV-infected patients including cirrhosis and liver cancer.Preferably, upon introduction into a host organism according to themodalities described herein, the composition of the invention provides atherapeutic benefit to the treated host as compared to before treatment.The therapeutic benefit can be evidenced by a number of ways, forinstance a decrease of HBV viral load detected in blood, plasma, sera orliver of an infected subject, and/or by the detection of an anti-HBVimmune response (e.g. production of anti-HBV antibodies and/or Tcell-mediated immunity) or by the delay of the symptoms associated withan HBV infection (e.g. delay in the development of liver cirrhosis orcancer), or by a decrease of liver inflammation/steatosis/fibrosisconditions typically associated with HBV infection or by an improvedresponse of the individual to conventional therapies.

Accordingly, the present invention also encompasses the use of at leastone of the HBV moieties, nucleic acid molecules, vectors, infectiousviral particles, host cells or compositions of the invention for thepreparation of a drug intended for treating or preventing HBVinfections, HBV-associated diseases and pathologic conditions, accordingto the modalities described herein.

The present invention also provides a method for the treatment orprevention of HBV infections, in particular chronic HBV infection,HBV-associated diseases and pathologic conditions, comprisingadministering to a human or animal organism in need thereof atherapeutically effective amount of at least one of the HBV moieties,nucleic acid molecules, vectors, infectious viral particles, host cellsor compositions of the invention.

The method or use of the invention comprises one or more administrations(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, etc) of a therapeutically effectiveamount of said active agent(s), said administrations being separatedfrom each other by an appropriate period of time and being carried outby the same route of administration or by different routes ofadministrations (e.g. intramuscular and subcutaneous routes), at thesame site or at different sites. Three administrations separated fromeach other by 3 to 10 days (e.g. 3 weekly administrations) areparticularly suitable for MVA-based compositions and vector(s). Thisfirst series of administration can be followed by one or more subsequentadministration(s) using the same active agent(s) which can take placeone or several months so as to recall the anti-HBV immune responseprimed by the 3 sequential administrations. With respect to Ad-basedcompositions and vector(s), a preferred method or use includes oneadministration, eventually followed by one or two subsequentadministration(s) one and 6 months later.

If desired, the method or use of the invention can be carried out incombination with one or more conventional therapeutic modalities (e.g.radiation, chemotherapy and/or surgery). The use of multiple therapeuticapproaches provides the patient with a broader based intervention.

In one embodiment, the method of the invention can be preceded orfollowed by a surgical intervention. In another embodiment, it can bepreceded or followed by radiotherapy (e.g. gamma radiation). Thoseskilled in the art can readily formulate appropriate radiation therapyprotocols and parameters which can be used (see for example Perez andBrady, 1992, Principles and Practice of Radiation Oncology, 2nd Ed. JBLippincott Co; using appropriate adaptations and modifications as willbe readily apparent to those skilled in the field).

In still another embodiment, the method or use of the invention isassociated to chemotherapy with one or more HBV drugs which areconventionally used for treating or preventing HBV infections,HBV-associated diseases and pathologic conditions. Their administrationmay precede, be concomitant, or subsequent to the administration of theactive agent in use in the invention. Representative examples of HBVdrugs include without limitation poly nerase inhibitors, RNase Hinhibitors, nucleoside analogs, nucleotide analogs, TLR agonists,N-glycosylation inhibitors, siRNA, antisense oligonucleotides, anti-HBVantibodies, immune modulators, therapeutic vaccines and antitumor agentsusually used in the treatment of HBV-associated liver cancers (e.g.adriamycin, adriamicin with lipiodol or sorasenib). Examples of suitabletherapeutic vaccines include without limitation recombinant antigens,VLPs, vectors or synthetic peptides based on or encoding HBV proteins(Core, preS1, PreS2, S and/or polymerase) which are particularly suitedto trigger an anti-HBV humoral response. Such HBV drugs can be providedin a single dose or, alternatively, in multiple doses according tostandard protocols, dosages and regimens over several hours, days and/orweeks. A particularly suitable method or use according to the inventionis used in combination with standard of care which can be before, inparallel or subsequently to the method or use of the invention. Althoughsuch standard of care may vary from patient to patient, it generallycomprises treatment with cytokines (e.g. IFNa, pegylated IFNa2) and/orwith, nucleotide or nucleoside analogs such as lamivudine, entecavir,telbivudine, adefovir, dipivoxil or tenofovir.

In another embodiment, the method or use of the invention is carried outaccording to prime boost therapeutic modality which comprises sequentialadministrations of one or more priming composition(s) and one or moreboosting composition(s). Typically, the priming and the boostingcompositions use different vehicles which comprise or encode at least anantigenic domain in common. Moreover, the priming and boostingcompositions can be administered at the same site or at alternativesites by the same route or by different routes of administration. Forexample, compositions based on polypeptide can be administered by amucosal route whereas compositions based on vectors are preferablyinjected, e.g. subcutaneous injection for a MVA vector, intramuscularinjection for a DNA plasmid and subcutaneous or intramuscular injectionfor an adenoviral vector.

The present invention also provides a method of inducing or stimulatingan immune response against HBV in a host organism comprisingadministering to said organism at least one of the HBV moieties, nucleicacid molecules, vectors, infectious viral particles, host cells orcompositions of the invention so as to induce or stimulate said immuneresponse. The immune response can be a specific and/or a nonspecific,humoral and/or cellular and, in this context, it can be CD4+ orCD8+-mediated or both. The immune response is preferably a T cellresponse directed to an HBV antigen.

The ability of the method of the invention to induce or stimulate ananti-HBV immune response upon administration in an animal or humanorganism can be evaluated either in vitro or in vivo using a variety ofassays which are standard in the art. For a general description oftechniques available to evaluate the onset and activation of an immuneresponse, see for example Coligan et al. (1992 and 1994, CurrentProtocols in Immunology; ed J Wiley & Sons Inc, National Institute ofHealth). Measurement of cellular immunity can be performed bymeasurement of cytokine profiles secreted by activated effector cellsincluding those derived from CD4+ and CD8+T-cells (e.g. quantificationof IL-10 or IFNg-producing cells by ELIspot), by determination of theactivation status of immune effector cells (e.g. T cell proliferationassays by a classical [³ H]thymidine uptake), by assaying forantigen-specific T lymnphocytes in a sensitized subject (e.g.peptide-specific lysis in a cytotoxicity assay). The ability tostimulate a humoral response may be determined by antibody bindingand/or competition in binding (see for example Harlow, 1989, Antibodies,Cold Spring Harbor Press). The method of the invention can also befurther validated in animal models challenged with an appropriateinfectious or tumor-inducing agent (e.g. a vaccinia virus or a ListeriaMonocytogenes bacteria expressing HBV gene products) to determineneutralization of the infectious or tumor-inducing agent and eventuallypartial resistance to the associated symrptoms, reflecting an inductionor an enhancement of an anti-HBV immune response. Testing and validationof the compositions of the invention are also illustrated in theappended Example section.

In another aspect, the invention provides a kit of parts for use in thetreatment or prevention of HBV infections, including chronic HBVinfection, HBV-associated diseases and pathologic conditions accordingto the modalities described herein, and more particularly for inducingor generating an immune response in a subject infected with HBV, whereinsaid kit comprises a plurality of active agents selected from the groupconsisting of the HBV moieties, nucleic acid molecules, vectors,infectious viral particles, host cells and compositions describedherein. Desirably, said plurality of active agents is provided in theform of separate polypeptides or separate vectors and administration ofeach of the active agents can take place simultaneously (at the sametime) or separately (one following the other(s) after a certain timeinterval), by the same route or different routes of administration andat the same site (or close vicinity) or different sites and using thesame dose or different doses.

Of particular interest in the present invention is a kit of parts whichcomprises a first vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule encoding thepolymerase moiety as defined herein and a second vector comprising anucleic acid molecule encoding the core moiety and/or the env moiety asdefined herein.

According to a preferred embodiment, said first vector is a MVA vectorcomprising a nucleic acid molecule placed under the control of avaccinia promoter such as the 7.5K promoter and encoding a polymerasemoiety comprising an amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 7, 8 or9 or in SEQ ID NO:7 with the substitution of the Asp residue in position494 to an His residue and the substitution of the Glu residue inposition 672 to an His residue; and said second vector is a MVA vectorcomprising a nucleic acid molecule placed under the control of avaccinia promoter such as the pH5r promoter and encoding a core moietyand an env moiety comprising an amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ IDNO: 18 or 19.

According to another preferred embodiment, said first vector is anadenovirus vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule placed under thecontrol of a suitable promoter such as the CMV promoter and encoding apolymerase moiety comprising an amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ IDNO: 7 or SEQ ID NO: 8 or SEQ ID NO: 7 with the substitution of the Aspresidue in position 494 to an His residue and the substitution of theGlu residue in position 672 to an His residue; and said second vector isan adenovirus vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule placed under thecontrol of a suitable promoter such as the CMV promoter and encoding acore moiety and an env moiety comprising an amino acid sequence as shownin SEQ ID NO: 18, 19 or 20 or the portion of SEQ ID NO: 20 starting atresidue 1 and ending at residue 251 (core-env1-env2) or the portion ofSEQ ID NO: 20 starting at residue 1 and ending at residue 221(core-env1).

The kit of parts of the present invention may further comprise a thirdvector expressing an immunomodulator as defined above. For illustrativepurposes, preferred doses of each active ingredient comprised in the kitof parts is of the same order as that described above in connection withthe composition of the invention, with a specific preference for a dosefrom 5×10⁵ to 10⁹ pfu for each poxyiral or MVA vector and from about 10⁶to about 10¹² vp for each adenoviral vector.

The invention also provides antibodies that selectively bind to the HBVmoieties in use in the present invention or peptide fragments thereof.As used herein, an antibody selectively binds a target peptide when itbinds the target peptide and does not significantly bind to unrelatedproteins. In certain cases, it would be understood that antibody bindingto the peptide is still selective despite some degree ofcross-reactivity. It is nonetheless preferred that the antibody of theinvention does not bind with high affinity or high selectivity to HBVnative protein.

As used herein, an antibody is defined in terms consistent with thatrecognized within the art. The antibodies of the present inventioninclude polyclonal antibodies and monoclonal antibodies, as well asfragments of such antibodies, including, but not limited to, Fab orF(ab′).sub.2, and Fv fragments. Antibodies of the present invention canbe produced using conventional techniques in the art, e.g. followingadministering to an animal an effective amount of any of the HBVmoieties described herein and/or a peptide fragment thereof. Antibodiesare preferably prepared from regions or discrete fragments of the HBVmoieties comprising unique sequences, such as the ones directed to themodifications described herein introduced into the native HBV proteins.

Antibodies of the present invention have a variety of potential usesthat are within the scope of the present invention. For example, suchantibodies can be used (a) as reagents in assays to detect the first orsecond polypeptides of the present invention, (b) as reagents in assaysto detect the presence of a HBV virus in a biological sample, and/or (c)as tools to recover the recombinantly-produced HBV moieties from amixture of proteins and other contaminants (e.g. by permittingpurification by affinity chromatography or immunoprecipitation fromcultured host cells).

The present invention also relates to a method for the detection and/orquantification an HBV virus or an anti-HBV antibody in a biologicalsample (e.g. plasma, serum, tissue) taken from an individual susceptibleto be infected by said HBV virus using at least one of the HBV moietiesnucleic acid molecules, vectors, infectious viral particles, host cells,compositions or antibodies of the invention.

In one embodiment, the method is more particularly suited for thedetection and/or quantification an HBV virus in a biological sample andcomprises at least the steps of bringing said biological sample intocontact with at least one of the antibodies of the invention underconditions allowing the formation of a complex between the virus and theantibody and detecting and/or quantifying the formation of said complexby any appropriate means.

In another embodiment, the method is more particularly suited for thedetection and/or quantification an anti-HBV antibody in a biologicalsample and comprises at least the steps of bringing said biologicalsample into contact with at least one of the HBV moieties, nucleic acidmolecules, vectors, infectious viral particles, host cells, compositionsof the invention under conditions allowing the formation of a complexbetween the anti-HBV antibody and the HBV moiety, nucleic acid molecule,vector, infectious viral particle, host cell, composition of theinvention and detecting and/or quantifying the formation of said complexby any appropriate means.

A person skilled in the art will easily determine the quantity ofantibody, HBV moiety, nucleic acid molecule, vector, infectious viralparticle, host cell, composition to be used in the methods of theinvention. The means of detection and/or quantification of the virus areroutine and well known to a person skilled in the art. By way ofillustration, one may mention blots, ELISA, so-called sandwichtechniques, competition techniques, and PCR techniques, in particular socalled “real-time” techniques. The use of an antibody, HBV moiety,nucleic acid molecule, vector, infectious viral particle, host cell, orcomposition of the present invention as reagent can be facilitated bycoupling (i.e., physically linking) to a detectable substance.

Examples of detectable substances include various enzymes (e.g.horseradish peroxidase, alkaline phosphatase, beta-galactosidase oracetylcholinesterase), prosthetic groups (e.g. streptavidin/biotin, oravidin/biotin), fluorescent materials (e.g. umbelliferone, fluorescein,or fluorescein derivatives), luminescent materials, bioluminescentmaterials (e.g. luciferase, luciferin, or acquorin), and radioactivematerials (e.g. ¹²⁵I, ¹³¹I, ³⁵S or ³H).

Finally, the invention relates to the use of at least one of the HBVmoieties, nucleic acid molecules, vectors, infectious viral particles,host cells, compositions, or antibodies of the invention for the invitro diagnosis of an HBV infection in a biological sample.

The invention has been described in an illustrative manner, and it is tobe understood that the terminology which has been used is intended to bein the nature of words of description rather than of limitation.Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present inventionare possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims, the inventionmay be practiced in a different way from what is specifically describedherein.

All of the above cited disclosures of patents, publications and databaseentries are specifically incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety to the same extent as if each such individual patent,publication or entry were specifically and individually indicated to beincorporated by reference.

LEGENDS OF FIGURES

FIG. 1 illustrates HBV polypeptide expression from adenovirus and MVAinfected cells. A549 cells or chicken embryo fibroblasts were infectedat MOI 10 or 50 for adenovirus or MOI 0.2 or I for MVA and cells werelysed 48 h after infection. Western blot were then performed with celllysates obtained from cells infected with the various Ad (FIG. 1A) andMVA (FIG. 1B) constructs to detect specific HBV proteins.Core-containing polypeptides were detected using an anti-Core antibody(C1-5 or 13A9, dilution 1/200) and polymerase-containing polypeptideswith an anti-Pol antibody (8D5, dilution 1/200) as primary antibodiesand the secondary antibody was coupled to HRP. Expected sizes for theproteins expressed by Ad TG17909 and Ad TG17910 are respectively 31.6kDa and 88.5 kDa. Expected sizes for proteins expressed by MVA TG17971,MVA TG 17972, MVA TG 17993 and MVA TG17994 are respectively 20.2 kDa,15.8 kDa, 20 kDa and 23.5 kDa. Expected sizes for proteins expressed byMVA TG17842 and MVA TG17843 are 88.5 kDa and 98.2 kDa respectively.

FIG. 2 illustrates the immunogenicity of HBV polypeptides encoded byadenovirus in Elispots IFNγ assays. Five individual mice (HLA-A2transgenic mice) were immunised once with either Ad TG17909 alone (blackbars), Ad TG17910 alone (white bars) or in combination (Ad TG17909+AdTG17910) (grey bars). FIG. 2A illustrates specific T cell responsestargeting Polymerase protein using the HLA-A2 restricted peptide SLY(SEQ ID NO: 55) or an irrelevant one (not shown). FIG. 2B illustratesspecific T cell responses targeting Core protein using the HLA-A2restricted peptides FLP (SEQ ID NO: 56) or ILC (SEQ ID NO: 57). FIG. 2Cillustrates specific T cell responses targeting Env domains using theHLA-A2 restricted peptides VLQ (SEQ ID NO: 58), FLG (SEQ ID NO: 59) orGLS (SEQ ID NO: 60). Each bar represents an individual vaccinated mouseand the hatched bars represent the median of each group. Results areshown as the mean value of the number of spots observed for 10⁶ spleencells, obtained from triplicate wells. A response was consideredpositive if the number of spots was higher than 50 spots per 10⁶ cells(this cut-off is represented by a thick black line).

FIG. 3 illustrates the immunogenicity of HBV polypeptides encoded byadenovirus vector in intracellular cytokine staining assays. Fiveindividual mice (HLA-A2 transgenic mice) were immunised once with eitherAdTG17909 (FIG. 3B), AdTG17910 (FIG. 3A) or a combination of AdTG17909and AdTG17910 (FIG. 3C). Splenocytes were cultured for 5 h withGolgi-Plug and in presence of each HLA-A2 restricted peptide (SLY forPol, FLP, ILC for Core, VLQ, FLG and GLS for Env) or an irrelevant one.The percentage of CD8+ cells producing cytokines (IFNg and/or TNFa)specific of each HLA-A2 restricted epitopes, was assessed by ICS assays.Each bar represents an individual vaccinated mouse, with IFNg producingcells represented by a black bar, TNFa producing cells by a white barand IFNg+TNFa producing cells by a hatched bar and all these cellpopulations are piled for each mouse.

FIG. 4 illustrates the ability of HBV polypeptides encoded by adenovirusvector to induce CD8 and CD4 T cell responses, detected by intracellularcytokine staining assays. Five individual mice (HLA-A2 transgenic mice)were immunised once with a mixture of AdTG17909 and AdTG17910.Splenocytes were cultured for 5 h with Golgi-Plug and in presence ofeach HLA-A2 restricted peptide (SLY for Pol, FLP, ILC for Core, VLQ, FLGand GLS for Env) or pools of overlapping peptides (15aa overlapping by11 amino acids, 2 pools of peptides for Core and 2 pools of peptides forEnv) covering the whole antigenic domains or an irrelevant peptide.Induced specific CD8 T cells producing IFNgamma and/or TNFalpha (FIG.4A) and induced specific CD4 T cells producing IFNgamma and/or TNFalpha(FIG. 4B) or producing IFNgamma and/or IL2 (FIG. 4C) were monitored byICS assays. Each bar represents an individual vaccinated mouse, withIFNg producing cells represented by a grey bar, TNFa or IL2 producingcells by a white bar and IFNg+TNFa or IFNg+IL2 producing cells by ahatched bar and all these cell populations are piled for each mouse. Themedian of each group is also showed.

FIG. 5 illustrates the ability of adenovirus vector encoding HBVpolypeptides to induce in vivo functional cytolysis against target cellsloaded with HBV HLA-A2 restricted epitopes. Three individual mice(HLA-A2 transgenic mice) were immunised once with a combination ofAdTG17909 and AdTG17910 (M1 to M3) and one mouse was immunized once withan empty adenovirus vector as negative control (MO). CFSE stainedsplenocytes from syngenic mice, loaded with HBV HLA-A2 epitopes or not(negative control) were injected intraveinously to vaccinated mice. Thein vivo lysis of stained cells was assessed for each mouse 24 h later byflow cytometry and calculated as indicated in Material and methods. Themean of specific lysis observed for each peptide for the 3 micevaccinated with AdHBV was calculated and showed (Mean M1-M3).

FIG. 6 illustrates the immunogenicity of HBV polypeptides encoded by MVAvector as determined by Elispots IFNgamma assays. Individual mice(HLA-A2 transgenic mice) were immunised three times at one week intervalwith either MVATG17842 or MVATG17843 (FIG. 6A) or MVATG17971 (FIG. 6B)or MVA TG17972 or the negative control MVA TGN33.1 (data not shown).FIG. 6A illustrates specific T cell responses targeting Polymeraseprotein following immunization with MVA TG17842 (dark grey bars) orMVATG17843 (light grey bars) using the HLA-A2 restricted peptide SLY(SEQ ID NO: 55), pool 8 of peptides covering the C-terminal part of thepolymerase protein (25 peptides of amino acids overlapping by 11 aminoacids/pool), an irrelevant peptide or medium (negative controls). FIG.6B illustrates specific T cell responses targeting Core proteinfollowing immunization with MVA TG17971 using the HLA-A2 restrictedpeptides FLP (SEQ ID NO: 56), ILC (SEQ ID NO: 57), peptides pools “coreI and core 2” (21 to 22 peptides of 15 amino acids overlapping by11-amino acids/pool), an irrelevant peptide or medium (negativecontrols). Each bar represents an individual vaccinated mouse and thehatched bars represent the mean of each group. Results are shown as themean value of the number of spots observed for 10⁶ spleen cells,obtained from triplicate wells. A response was considered positive ifthe number of spots was higher than 50 spots per 10⁶ cells (this cut-offis represented by a dotted black line).

FIG. 7 illustrates the immunogenicity of HBV polypeptides encoded by MVAvectors co-injected in mouse, as determined by Elispots IFNgamma assays.Individual mice (HLA-A2 transgenic mice) were immunised three times atone week interval with a mix of MVATG17843 and either MVATG17972 (FIG.7A) or MVATG17993 (FIG. 7B) or MVATG17994 (FIG. 7C) or with MVA TG N33.1alone as negative control (data not shown). Specific T cell responsestargeting Polymerase protein were determined using the HLA-A2 restrictedpeptide SLY (SEQ ID NO: 55) and specific T cell responses targeting Envdomains using the HLA-A2 restricted peptide GLS (SEQ ID NO: 60) or apool of peptides covering the Env2 domain (pool of 15 amino acid-longpeptides overlapping by 11 amino acids). An irrelevant peptide andmedium were used as negative controls. Each bar represents an individualvaccinated mouse and the hatched bars represent the mean of each group.Results are shown as the mean value of the number of spots observed for10⁶ spleen cells, obtained from triplicate wells. A response wasconsidered positive if the number of spots was higher than 92 spots per10⁶ cells (this cut-off is represented by a dotted black line).

EXAMPLES 1. Material and Methods

The constructions described below are carried out according to thegeneral genetic engineered and molecular cloning techniques detailed inManiatis et al (1989, Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor LaboratoryPress, Cold Spring Harbor N.Y.) or according to the manufacturer'srecommendations when a commercial kit is used. PCR amplificationtechniques are known to the person skilled in the art (see for examplePCR protocols—A guide to methods and applications, 1990, published byIhmis, Gelfand, Sninsky and White, Academic Press). The recombinantplasmids carrying the ampicillin resistance gene are replicated in theE. coli C600 (Stratagene) on agar or liquid medium supplemented with 100μg/ml of antibiotic. The constructions of the recombinant vacciniaviruses are performed according to the conventional technology in thefield in the documents above cited and in Mackett et al. (1982, Proc.Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 79, 7415-7419) and Mackett et al. (1984, J. Virol.49, 857-864). The selection gene gpt (xanthine guaninephosphoribosyltransferase) of E coli (Falkner and Moss, 1988, J. Virol.62, 1849-1854) is used to facilitate the selection of the recombinantvaccinia viruses.

1.1. Vectors Constructions and Production 1.1.1. Selected Antigens andHBV Sequence Strain

The vectors exemplified hereinafter have been engineered to express thepolymerase, core polypeptides and immunogenic domains of the envelopeprotein. They all originate from HBV strain Y07587 which sequence isdescribed in international databases (Genbank Y07587) and in differentpublications. It is a genotype D virus of serotype ayw.

The Core polypeptide is either wild-type (aa 1-183) or a Corepolypeptide deleted of amino acids 77 to 84 (i.e. Core containing aminoacid 1 to 76 and 85 to 183 designated core*) or a C-terminally truncatedpolypeptide (1-148) or a C-terminally truncated core (1-148) furtherdeleted of amino acids 77 to 84 (i.e. Core containing amino acid 1 to 76and 85 to 148 designated core*t).

The polymerase polypeptide is either wild type or a N-terminallytruncated polypeptide lacking the first 47 amino acids (48-832) or aN-truncated polymerase (48-832) further mutated at position 540 (D in H)and 718 (E in H) (positions 450 and 718 being given with respect to thewild-type polymerase) or the truncated (48-832) and mutated polymerase(D540H and E718H) which is fused to the peptide signal and transmembranedomain of the rabies virus glycoprotein (Pol*TMR).

The selected Env domains are: domain from amino acids 14 to 51 of the Sprotein (Env 1) and domain from amino acids 165 to 194 of the HBsprotein (Env 2) and domain from amino acid 202 to 226 of the HBs protein(Env 4).

1.1.2. Construction and production of a MVATG17842 expressing atruncated and mutated HBV polymerase (Pol*)

The nucleotide sequences encoding a modified HBV polymerase polypeptidewere synthesized by Geneart company using synthetic oligonucleotides andPCR products. The modified HBV polymerase corresponds to the polymeraseprotein of HBV Y07587 (SEQ ID NO: 1) mutated at position 540 (D in H)and 718 (E in H) in order to eliminate Rnase H and RTase activitiesexhibited by the native HBV polymerase (resulting in amino acid sequenceshown in SEQ ID NO: 8 and nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 22).The reassembled Pol sequence was then cloned in a plasmid vectorresulting in PGA15-pol (SEQ ID NO: 27). A truncated version deleted ofthe first 47 amino acids present at the N-terminus of the native HBVpolymerase was amplified by PCR from pGAI 5-Pol plasmid using thefollowing primers OTG19037 (GAGCGATATATCCACCATGAATGAATGTTAGTATTCCTTGGAC)(SEQ ID NO: 28) and OTG19038 (GATCGCTAGCTCACGGTGGTCTCCATGCGAC) (SEQ IDNO: 29). The resulting fragment was inserted into the NheI and EcoR Vrestriction sites of a MVA transfer plasmid downstream the p7.5Kpromoter (Cochran et al, 1985, J. Virol. 54:30), resulting in pTG17842.The mutated and truncated polymerase is designated hereinafter pol* TheMVA transfer plasmid is designed to permit insertion of the nucleotidesequence to be transferred by homologous recombination in deletion IIIof the MVA genome. It originates from plasmid pTG E (described in Brainet al., 2000, Gene Ther, 7:1447) into which were cloned the flankingsequences (BRG3 and BRD3) surrounding the MVA deletion III (Sutter andMoss, 1992, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89:10847). The transfer plasmidalso contains a fusion between the Aequorea victoria enhanced GreenFluorescent protein (eGFP gene, isolated from pEGP-C1, Clontech) and theEscherichia coli xanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase gene (gptgene) under the control of the early late vaccinia virus syntheticpromoter p11K7.5 (kindly provided by R. Wittek, University of Lausanne).Synthesis of xanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase enables GPTrecombinant MVA to form plaques in a selective medium containingmycophenolic acid, xanthine, and hypoxanthine (Falkner et al, 1988, J.Virol, 62, 1849-54) and eGFP enables the visualisation of recombinantMVA plaques. The selection marker CGFP-GPT is placed between twohomologous sequences in the same orientation. When the clonal selectionis achieved, the selection marker is easily eliminated by severalpassages without selection allowing the growth of eGFP-GPT recombinantMVA.

Generation of MVATG1 7842 virus was performed by homologousrecombination in primary chicken embryos fibroblasts (CEF) infected withMVA and transfected with pTG17842 (according to the standard calciumphosphate DNA precipitation). Viral selection was performed by threeround of plaque purification in the presence of a selective mediumcontaining mycophenolic acid, xanthine and hypoxanthine. As mentionedabove, the selection marker was then eliminated by passage in anon-selective medium, Absence of contamination by parental MVA wasverified by PCR.

Analysis of expression of HBV polymerase was performed by Western-blot.A549 cells (ATCC CCL-185) were infected at MOI of 1 with MVATG17842(Pol*) in presence or in absence of proteasome inhibitor MG-132 (10 μM)added to growth medium. After 24 hours, cells were harvested.Western-blot analysis was performed using commercial monoclonal anti-Polantibody Hep B Pol (8D5, Santa Cruz, #sc-81591),

1.1.3. Construction and Production of MVATG17843 Expressing a Truncatedand Mutated HBV Polymerase Fused to the Membrane-Anchoring Domain ofRabies Envelop Glycoprotein (PoI*TMR)

The HBV Pol* sequence was then modified by fusion at its N-terminus to apeptide signal (SS) and at its C-terminus to a membrane-anchoringsequences (TMR) derived from the glycoprotein of the rabies virus (ERAisolate; described in Genbank No M38452). The SS and TMR sequences wereamplified from plasmid pTG8042 (described in WO99/03885) by PCR usingrespectively primer pairs OTG19045 (SEQ ID NO: 30) (GAGTGATATCCACCATGGTTCCTCAGGCTCTCCTG)/OTG19047 (SEQ ID NO: 31)(GTCCAAGGAATACTAACATTAATAGGGAATTTCCCAAAACACAATG) and OTG19049 (SEQ IDNO: 32) (GTCGCATGGAGACCACCG GTCCACCGTATGTATTACTGAGTGCAGGG/OTG19050 (SEQID NO: 33) (GAGTGCTAGCTCACAGTCTGGTCTCACCC). Pol* sequence was amplifiedfrom plasmid pGA5-Pol by PCR using primer pair OTG19046 (SEQ ID NO: 34)(GTTTTGGGAAATTCCCTATTAATGTTAGTATTCCTTGGACTC)/ OTG19048 (SEQ ID NO: 35)(CTGCACTCAGTAATACATACGGTGGTCTCCATGCGACGTGC). Then, SS-Pol*-TMR sequencewas reassembled by triple PCR using the following primers OTG19045 (SEQID NO: 30) and OTG19050 (SEQ ID NO: 33). The resulting fragment wasinserted into the NheI and EcoRV restriction sites of a vacciniatransfer plasmid downstream the p7.5K promoter (Cochran et al, 1985, J.Virol. 54:30), resulting in pTG17843.

Generation of MVATG17843 virus was performed in CEF by homologousrecombination as described above.

Analysis of Pol*-TMR expression was performed by Western-blot. A549cells were infected at MOI 1 with MVATG17843 in presence or in absenceof proteasome inhibitor MG-132 (10 μM) added to growth medium. After 24hours, cells were harvested. Western-blot analysis was performed usingcommercial monoclonal anti-Pol antibody Hep B Pol (8D5, Santa Cruz,#sc-81591).

1.1.4 Construction and Production of MVATG17971 Expressing a DeletedCore Polypeptide (Core*)

Core* corresponds to the Core sequence of HBV Y07587 (SEQ ID NO: 2)deleted of amino acids 77 to 84.

The Core* encoding sequences were reconstituted by double PCR frompGA4-Core plasmid. This plasmid was made by Geneart company. It containsa full length coding sequence of modified HBV Core gene which wasassembled from synthetic oligonucleotides and/or PCR products. The lasttwo codons CAA TGT of the coding sequence were modified in CAG TGC toavoid sequence homology with Pol (SEQ ID NO: 36). Core sequence frompositions 1 to 76 was amplified by PCR using the following primersOTG19290 (SEQ ID NO: 37) (GACTGTTAACCACCATGGACATTGATCCTTATAAAGAATTTG)and OTG19292 (SEQ ID NO: 38)(GTTGACATAACTGACTTACCAAATTACCCCACCCACCCAGGTAG). Core sequence frompositions 85 to 183 was amplified by PCR with the following primersOTG19291 (SEQ ID NO: 39) (GTGGGTGGTAATTTGGTAGTTCAGTTATGTCAACACTAATATG)and OTG19080 (SEQ ID NO: 61) (GACTCTCGAGTTAGCACTGAGATTCCCGAGATTG). Adouble PCR was performed using OTG19290 (SEQ ID NO: 37) and OTG19080(SEQ ID NO: 61) and both latter generated amplicons. The resultingfragment was inserted into the XhoI and Hpal restriction sites of avaccinia transfer plasmid downstream the pHl-5R promoter (Rosel et al,1986, J. Virol. 60:436), resulting in pTG17971.

Generation of MVATG17971 virus was performed in CEF by homologousrecombination as described above.

Analysis of Core* expression was performed by Western-blot. Chickenembryo fibroblasts were infected at MOI 0.2 with MVATG17971. After 24hours, cells were harvested. Western-blot analysis was performed using acommercial monoclonal anti-core antibody Hep B cAg (13A9) (Santa Cruz,#sc-23946).

1.1.5 Construction and Production of MVATG17972 expressing a deleted andtruncated Core polypeptide (Core*t)

Core*t corresponds to the Core sequence of HBV Y07587 (SEQ ID NO: 2)truncated after amino acid 148 and deleted of amino acids 77 to 84.

The Core*t-encoding sequences were reconstituted by double PCR frompGA4-Core plasmid which contains the sequence encoding the full lengthHBV Core gene which was assembled from synthetic oligonucleotides andPCR products except that the last two codons CAA TGT of the codingsequence were modified in CAG TGC to avoid sequence homology with Pol(SEQ ID NO: 36).

Core sequence from positions 1 to 76 was amplified by PCR using thefollowing primers OTG19290 (SEQ ID NO: 37)(GACTGTTAACCACCATGGACATTGATCCTTA-TAAAGAATTTG) and OTG19292 (SEQ ID NO:38) (GTTGACATAACTGACTA-CCAAATTACCACCCACCCAGGTAG). Core sequence frompositions 85 to 148 was amplified by PCR from pGA4-core with thefollowing primers OTG19291 (SEQ ID NO: 39)(GTGGGTGGTAATTTGGTAGTCAGTTATGTCAACACTAATATG) and OTG19299 (SEQ ID NO:40) (GACTCTCGAGTTAAACAGTAGTCTCCGGAAGTG). The double PCR was performedusing OTG19290 (SEQ ID NO: 37) and OTG19299 (SEQ ID NO: 40). Theresulting fragment was inserted into the XhoI and H-pal restrictionsites of a vaccinia transfer plasmid downstream the pH5R promoter (Roselet at, 1986. J. Virol. 60:436), resulting in pTG17972.

Generation of MVATG17972 virus was performed in CEF by homologousrecombination as described above.

Analysis of Core*t expression was performed by Western-blot. Chickenembryo fibroblasts were infected at MOI 0.2 with MVATG17972. After 24hours, cells were harvested. Western-blot analysis was performed using acommercial monoclonal anti-core antibody Hep B cAg (13A9) (Santa Cruz,#sc-23946).

1.1.6 Construction and Production of MVATG17993 Expressing a Deleted andTruncated Core Polypeptide Fused to the Env1 Immunogenic Domain(Core*t-Env1)

The Core-t* moiety was fused to Env1 domain extending from amino acids14 to 51 of the IHBs protein.

The Core*t-Env1 sequence was reconstituted by double PCR. Core*tsequence was amplified by PCR from pTG17972 using the following primersOTG19317 (SEQ ID NO: 41) (GACGGGATCCACCATGGACATTIGATCCTTATAAAGAATTTGG)and OTG19319 (SEQ ID NO: 42)(GCCTGCTTGCAGGACAACAGTAGTCTCCGAAGTTCCGGAAGTGTTG). Env1 sequence wasamplified by PCR from plasmid pMK-C/E (SEQ ID NO: 43) using thefollowing primers OTG19318 (SEQ ID NO: 44)(CCGGAGACTACTGTTGTCC-TGCAAGCAGGCTTCTTC) and OTG19320 (SEQ ID NO: 45)(GAGTCATTCTCGAC-TTGCGGCCGCTTACTGACCCAGGCAAACCGTGG). The double PCR wasperformed using OTG19317 (SEQ ID NO: 41) and OTG19320 (SEQ ID NO: 45).The resulting fragment was inserted into the BamHI and NotI restrictionsites of a vaccinia transfer plasmid downstream the pH5R promoter (Roselet al., 1986, J. Virol. 60:436), resulting in pTG17993.

For illustrative purposes, the plasmid pMK-C/E was made by Geneart andcontains a chimeric sequence consisting of an insertion of three HBV envdomain sequences into core sequence (SEQ ID NO: 43). The native core andenv nucleotide sequences were degenerated to avoid sequence homologywith HBV Pol sequence and also sequence instability due to polyT orpolyGC stretches. In addition, the core sequence was deleted of aminoacids 77 to 84 and truncated at aa148. The selected Env domains are:domain from amino acids 14 to 51 of the S protein (Env 1) and domainfrom amino acids 165 to 194 of the S protein (Env 2) and domain fromamino acid 202 to 226 of the S protein (Env 4). The three domains wereinserted respectively at positions nt 127, at nt 222 and at nt 416 ofcore sequence. It has to be noted that insertion of this sequence in aMVA vector results in cytotoxicity in the expressing cells, emphasizingthe fact that the design of the env-core fusion is not straightforward.

Generation of MVATG17993 virus was performed in CEF by homologousrecombination as described above.

Analysis of Core*t-env1 expression was performed by Western-blot.Chicken embryo fibroblasts were infected at MOI 0.2 with MVATG17993.After 24 hours, cells were harvested. Western-blot analysis wasperformed using a commercial monoclonal anti-core antibody Hep B cAg(13A9)(Santa Cruz, #sc-23946).

1.1.7. Construction and Production of MVATG17994 Expressing a Deletedand Truncated Core Polypeptide Fused to Env1 and Env2 ImmunogenicDomains (Core*t-Env1-Env2)

The Core*t polypeptide described in 1.1.5 was then fused to twoimmunogenic domains extending from amino acids 14 to 51 (Env 1) and fromamino acid 165 to 194 (Env2) of the HBs protein

The nucleotide sequences encoding the Core*t-Env1-Env2 were reassembledby triple PCR. Core*t sequence was amplified by PCR from pTG17972 usingthe following primers OTG19317 (SEQ ID NO: 41) and OTG19319 (SEQ ID NO:42). Env1 was amplified from pMK-C/E plasmid using the following primersOTG 93 18 (SEQ ID NO: 44) and OTG19322 (SEQ ID NO: 46(GCGTGCGCTTGCCCACTGACCCAGGCAAACCGTGG). Env2 was amplified from pMK-C/Eplasmid using the following primers OTG19321 (SEQ ID NO: 47(CGGTTTGCCTGGGTCAGTGGGCAAGCGCACGCTTTAGC) and OTG19323 (SEQ ID NO: 48)(GAGTCATTCTCGACTTGCGGCCGCTTCACGCTCAGCCACACGGTTGG). The triple PCR wasperformed using OTG19317 (SEQ ID NO: 41) and OTG19323 (SEQ ID NO: 48).The resulting fragment was inserted into the BamHI and NotI restrictionsites of a vaccinia transfer plasmid downstream the pH5R promoter (Roselet al, 1986, J. Virol. 60:436), resulting in pTG17994.

Generation of MVATG17994 virus was performed in CEF by homologousrecombination as described above.

Analysis of Core*t-env1-env2 expression was performed by Western-blot.Chicken embryo fibroblasts were infected at MOI 0.2 with MVATG17994.After 24 hours, cells were harvested. Western-blot analysis wasperformed using a commercial monoclonal anti-core antibody Hep B cAg(13A9, Santa Cruz, #sc-23946).

1.1.8. Construction and Production of an Adenoviral Vector AdTG17909Expressing CORE-Env1-Env2-Env4:

A synthetic gene (831 nucleotides) encoding a CORE-Env1-Env2-Env4 fusionwas reconstituted by double PCR. CORE was amplified by PCR frompGA4-Core (described in 1.1.4.) using the following primers OTG19152(SEQ ID NO: 49) (GGGGGGCTAGCAAGCTTCCACCATGGACATTGATCCTTATAAAGAATTTG) andOTG19154 (SEQ ID NO: 50)(GAAAGAATCCAGCTTGCAGGACGCACT-GAGATTCCCGAGATTGAG). Env1-Env2-Env4 wereamplified by PCR from pGA4-Env using the following primers OTG19153 (SEQID NO: 51) (CTCAATCTCGGGAATCT-CAGTGCGTCCTGCAAGCTGGATTCTTTC) and OTG19159(SEQ ID NO: 52) (GAGTCATTCTCGACTTGCGGCCGCTTAGATATAAACCCACAAGC). Thedouble PCR was performed using OTG19152 (SEQ ID NO: 49) and OTG19159(SEQ ID NO: 52). The resulting fragment was inserted into the NheI andNotI restriction sites of an adenoviral shuttle plasmid containing aCMV-driven expression cassette surrounded by adenoviral sequences(adenoviral nucleotides 1-454 and nucleotides 3513-5781 respectively) toallow generation of the vector genome by homologous recombination(Chartier et al., 1996, J. Virol. 70:4805). The resulting adenoviralvector pTG17909 is E3 (nucleotides 28593-30464) and E1 (nucleotides455-3512) deleted, with the E1 region replaced by the expressioncassette containing, from 5′ to 3′, the CMV immediate-earlyenhancer/promoter, a chimeric human β-globin/IgG intron (as found in pCIvector available in Promega), the sequence encoding theCORE-Env1-Env2-Env4 and the SV40 late polyadenylation signal. Therecombinant adenovirus was generated by transfecting the PacI linearizedviral genomes into an E1 complementation cell line. Virus propagation,purification and titration were made as described previously (Erbs etal., 2000, Cancer Res. 60:3813)

Expression of the fusion protein was evaluated by Western-blot. 10⁶ A549cells (ATCC CCL-185) were infected at MOI of 10 or 50 for 48 hours withAdTG17909 or with an empty adenovirus as negative control. The cellpellets were collected and probed with an anti CORE mouse monoclonalantibody (C1-5, sc-23945, Santa Cruz).

1.1.9. Construction and Production of Adenoviral Vector AdTG17910Expressing Pol*:

The gene encoding Pol*, a polymerase protein truncated of the 47 firstamino acids except the Met initiator (48 to 832) and mutated at position540 (D in H) and 718 (E in H) (with respect to the wild type polymerase)was inserted in an adenovirus vector. The Pol gene (2364 nucleotides)was amplified by PCR from pGAl5-Pol (described in 1.1.2) using primersOTG19155 (SEQ ID NO: 53)(GGGGGGCTAGCAAGCTTCCACCATGAA-TGTTAGTATTCCTTGGACTCATAAG) and OTG19156(SEQ ID NO: 54) (GAGTCATTCTCGACTTGCGGCCGCTCACGCTGGTCTCCATGCGACGTGC). Theresulting fragment was inserted into the NheI and Nodt restriction sitesof an adenoviral shuttle plasmid containing a CMV-driven expressioncassette surrounded by adenoviral sequences (adenoviral nucleotides1-454 and nucleotides 3513-5781 respectively) to allow generation of thevector genome by homologous recombination (Chartier et al., 1996, J.Virol. 70:4805).

The resulting adenoviral vector pTG17910 is E3 (nucleotides 28593-30464)and E1 (nucleotides 455-3512) deleted, with the E1 region replaced bythe expression cassette containing, from 5′ to 3′, the CMVimmediate-early enhancer/promoter, a chimeric human β-globin/IgG intron(as found in pCI vector available in Promega), the sequence encoding thetruncated and mutated Pol and the SV40 late polyadenylation signal. Therecombinant adenovirus was generated by transfecting the Pact linearizedviral genomes into an E1 complementation cell line. Virus propagation,purification and titration were made as described previously (Erbs etal., 2000, Cancer Res. 60:3813).

Expression of the fusion protein was evaluated in adenovirus infectedcells by Western-blot. A549 cells (10⁶ cells) (ATCC CCL-185) wereinfected at MOI of 10 or 50 for 48 hours with the adenovirus AdTG17910,as well as an empty adenovirus as negative control. The cell pelletswere collected and probed with an anti Pol mouse monoclonal antibody(8D5, sc-81591, Santa Cruz).

1.2 Evaluation of Antigen Immunogenicity

Antigen immunogenicity was evaluated in vivo by Elispot IFNγ andintracellular cytokine staining (ICS) assays following immunization ofHLA transgenic mice.

1.2.4 Mouse Model

The HLA-A2.1 transgenic mice used in the study were described by Pascoloet al. (1997, J. Exp. Med. 185:2043). These mice have the H-2D^(b) andmurine β₂-microglobulin genes knocked-out and express a transgenicmonochain histocompatibility class I molecule (HHD molecule) in whichthe C-terminus of the human β2m is covalently linked to the N-terminusof a chimeric heavy chain (HLA-A*0201 α1-α2, H-2D^(b) α3 transmembraneand intracytoplasmic domains). Seven to 10 weeks-old mice (male andfemale) were immunized. Average weight of the mice was around 25-30 g.

1.2.2. Immunization Protocols

Mice were divided in 4 groups; group 1 immunized by AdTG17909 (encodingHBV Core fused to env1, env2 and env4 immunogenic domains), group 2immunized AdTG17910 (encoding the truncated and mutated Pol*), group 3immunized with both vectors and group 4 immunized with an emptyadenovirus (AdTG15149) as negative control. All animals were immunizedby subcutaneous injection at the base of the tail, groups 1 and 2animals received one subcutaneous injection of 10⁸ IU of each Adenovirus(TG17909 or TG17910), group 3 one subcutaneous injection of a mixcontaining 10⁸ IU of each adenovirus (total of 2·10⁸ IU: 10⁸ IU ofAdTG17909+10⁸ IU of AdTG17910) and negative controls received onesubcutaneous injection of 2·10⁸ IU of AdTG15149. Cellular immuneresponses were assessed by IFNg Elispot and intracellular cytokinestaining (ICS) assays 2 weeks after the immunization.

1.2.3 Peptides

Peptides used for cells stimulation in vitro were either short peptidesof 9 to 10 amino acids which are described or predicted as HLA-A2restricted epitopes or long peptides of 15 amino acids included inpeptide libraries covering all the antigens of interest.

Short peptides corresponding to described or predicted H-LA-A2restricted epitopes of Polymerase protein, Core protein or Env domainswere synthesized by Eurogentec (Belgium) and were dissolved in 100% DMSO(sigma, D2650) at a concentration of 10 mM.

Peptides libraries covering the whole Polymerase, Core and Envelopeproteins were synthesized by Proimmune (Oxford, United Kingdom). ThePol, Core and Env libraries were composed of 15 mer peptides overlappingby 11 amino acids. Each crude peptide was dissolved in 100% DMSO (sigma,D2650) at a concentration of 50 mg/ml. For each library, peptides werepooled to a concentration of 2 mg/ml per peptide:

-   -   HBV Pol protein is covered by 8 pools of 24 to 25 peptides from        Pol library (Pool 1: 24 peptides covering residues 45 to 151;        Pool 2: 24 peptides covering residues 140 to 251; Pool 3: 24        peptides covering residues 241 to 347; Pool 4: 24 peptides        covering residues 337 to 447; Pool 5: 24 peptides covering        residues 437 to 543; Pool 6: 24 peptides covering residues 533        to 639; Pool 7: 24 peptides covering residues 629 to 735; Pool        8: peptides covering residues 725 to 832);        -   HBV Core protein is covered by 2 pools of 21-22 peptides            from Core library (Pool 1: 22 peptides covering residues 1            to 100; Pool 2: 21 peptides covering residues 89 to 183);        -   HBV Env protein is covered by 3 pools of 6 to 10 peptides            from Env library (Pool 1: peptides covering HBs residues 9            to 59; Pool 2: 9 peptides covering H Bs residues 157 to 194;            Pool 4: 6 peptides covering HBs residues 193 to 226).

1.2.4. IFNg Elispot Assays

Splenocytes from immunized mice were collected and red blood cells werelysed (Sigma, R7757). 2·10⁵ cells per well were cultured in triplicatefor 40 h in Multiscreen plates (Millipore, MSHA S4510) coated with an ananti-mouse IFNγ monoclonal antibody (BD Biosciences; 10 μg/ml, 551216)in (MEM culture medium (Gibco, 22571) supplemented with 10% FCS (Sigma,F7524 or JRH, 12003-100M), 80 U/mL penicillin/80 μg/mL streptomycin(PAN, P06-07-100), 2 mM L-glutamine (Gibco, 25030), 1× non-essentialamino acids (Gibco, 11140), 10 mM Hepes (Gibco, 15630), 1 mM sodiumpyruvate (Gibco, 31350) and 50 μM β-mercaptoethanol (Gibco, 31350) andin presence of 10 units/ml of recombinant murine IL2 (Peprotech,212-12), alone as negative control, or with:

-   -   10 μM of one HLA-A2 restricted peptide present in HBV antigens        encoded by Ad vectors (SLY in Pol, FLP, ILC for Core, VLQ, FLG        and GLS for Env) or an irrelevant one;    -   a pool of peptides at a final concentration of 5 μg/ml per        peptide    -   5 μg/ml of Concanavalin A (Sigma, C5275) for positive control.

IFNg-producing T cells were quantified by Elispot (cytokine-specificenzyme linked immunospot) assay as previously described (Himoudi et al.,2002, J. Virol. 76:12735). The number of spots (corresponding to theIFNg-producing T cells) in negative control wells was subtracted fromthe number of spots detected in experimental wells containing HBVpeptides. Results are shown as the mean value obtained for triplicatewells. An experimental threshold of positivity for observed responses(or cut-off) is determined by calculating a threshold value whichcorresponds to the mean value of spots observed with medium alone+2standard deviations, reported to 10⁶ cells. A technical cut-off linkedto the CTL Elispot reader was also defined as being 50 spots/10⁶ cells(which is the value above which the CV of the reader was systematicallyless than 20%). The highest value between the technical cut-off and theexperimental threshold calculated for each experiment is taken intoaccount to define the cut-off value of each experiment. Statisticalanalyses of Elispot responses were conducted by using a Mann-Whitneytest. P value equal or inferior to 0.05 was considered as significant.

1.2.5. Intracellular Cytokine Staining (ICS) Assays

ICS was performed on splenocytes from each animal of each group.Following red blood cells lysis with lysis buffer (Sigma, R7757), 2×10⁶cells per well in flat-bottom 96-well plate were incubated in completealpha (MEM culture medium (Gibco BRL, 22571) in presence of 10 units/mlof murine recombinant IL-2 (Peprotech, 212-12) alone as negative controlor with 10 μM of specific HBV peptide or with a pool of peptides at afinal concentration of 5 g/ml per peptide or with 10 μM of an irrelevantpeptide. The GolgiPlug (BD Biosciences, 555029) was immediately added ata 1 μl/ml final concentration for 5 h. Then, cells were harvested inV-bottom 96-well plates and washed with 1% FCS-PBS. Staining wasperformed using monoclonal antibodies against CD3 (hamster MAbanti-CD3e-PE, dilution 1/200), CD8 (rat MAb anti CDSa-APC, dilution1/600) and CD4 (rat MAb anti-CD4-PerCP, dilution 1/600) (all from BDBiosciences, 553063, 553035 and 553052 respectively) in 50 μl of 1%FCS-PBS for 15 min at room temperature. After washing, cells were fixedand permeabilized with Cytofix/Cytoperm and washed with Perm/Washsolution (BD Biosciences, 554714). Then, the anti-mouse IFNg-PEantibodies (BD Biosciences, 554412557724) and anti-mouse TNFa-Alexa488antibodies (BD Biosciences, 557719) or the anti-mouse IFNg-PE antibodies(BD Biosciences, 554412557724) and anti-mouse IL2-Alexa488 antibodies(BD Biosciences, 557719) were added for 15 min at room temperature andafter washing with Perm/Wash, cells were resuspended in 1% FCS-PBS andanalysed by flow cytometry using a FacsCalibur (Becton Dickinson).CD3e+, CD8a+ cells or CD3e+, CD4+ cells were gated to determinepercentages of IFNg+ CD8+ or LFNg+ CD4+ T or TNFa+ CD8+ or TNFa+ CD4+ Tor IL2+ CD8+ or IL2 CD4+ T or IFNg+ TNFa+ CD8+ or IFNg+ TNFa+CD4+ orIFNg+IL2+ CDS+ or IFNg+IL2+ CD4+ T cell population. The percentageobtained in medium only was considered as background.

1.2.6. In Vivo CTL Assays

In vivo CTL assays were performed as described (Fournillier et al.,2007). Splenocyte suspensions were obtained from syngenic mouse spleensand adjusted to 20×10⁶ cells/ml after lysis of red blood cells. Onethird of the cells was incubated with one of the HBV specific peptide,the second third of the cells was incubated with another HBV peptide,all at 10 μM final concentration for 1 hour at 37° C., whereas the lastfraction was left unpulsed. 5(6)-carboxyfluorescein diacetatesuccinimidyl ester (CFSE) (Molecular probes, C1157) was added at 16 μM(CFSE-high) to unpulsed cells, at 4 M (CFSE-medium) to ILC or VLQpeptide pulsed cells and at 1 μM (CFSE-low) to SLY or FLP peptide pulsedcells, for 10 min. After washing with PBS, the three populations(unpulsed, ILC and SLY peptide pulsed cells or unpulsed, FLP and ILCpeptide pulsed cells) were mixed and 30·10⁶ total cells were injected toanaesthetized mice via the retro-orbital vein (usingketamine-xylazine-PBS mix (Kétamine Virbac, Centravet KET204, finalconcentration 25 nmg/ml; Xylazine hydrochloride Rompun Bayer, Centravet,final concentration 5 mg/ml)). Thus, CFSE-low and medium populationrepresented specific targets supposed to be lysed by cytotoxic T cellsand CFSE-high population was an internal reference allowing assaynormalisation. Splenocytes from recipient mice were analyzed 24 h laterby flow cytometry to detect the CFSE-labeled cells. Following gating onlymphocytes (SSC/FSC), a second gating was performed based on the numberof events/CFSE fluorescence (FL1) which reveals 3 peaks, a 1rst onecorresponding to CFSE-low cells, the 2nd one to CFSE-medium cells andthe 3rd one to CFSE-high cells. For each animal, ratio between CFSE+peptide-pulsed targets and CFSE+ unpulsed targets was calculated(R=Number CFSE-low cells/Number CFSE-high cells). Two naive mice wereused to determine R reference. The percentage of specific lysis bforeach animal was determined by the following formula: %lysis−(1−R_(mouse)/R_(reference))×100. A response was consideredpositive if the percentage of specific lysis was higher than 10%(cut-off).

2. Results 2.1 Antigen Expression by Viral Vectors

2.1.1 Expression of Antigens from Adenovirus Constructs AdTG17909 andAdTG17910

Expression of the core-env1-env2-env4 fusion protein was evaluated byWestern-blot. A549 cells (10⁶ cells) were infected at MOI of 10 or 50for 48 hours with AdTG17909 or an empty adenovirus as negative control.The cell pellets were collected and p robed with an anti-Core mousemonoclonal antibody (C1-5, sc-23945, Santa Cruz). As illustrated in FIG.1A, a major band having the expected molecular weight (31.6 kDa) wasrevealed in the sample collected from cells infected with AdTG17909.

Expression of the Pol* polypeptide was evaluated by Western-blotfollowing AdTG17910 infection of A549 cells. The cell pellets were thencollected and probed with an anti-Pol mouse monoclonal antibody (8D5,so-81591, Santa Cruz). As illustrated in FIG. 1A, a band having theexpected molecular weight (88.5 kDa) was revealed in the samplecollected from cells infected with AdTG17910 together with somesub-products (partial polymerase proteins).

2.1.2 Expression of Antigens from MVA Constructs

Analysis of Pol*, Pol*TMR, Core*t, Core*tEnv1, Core*t-Env1-Env2expression was performed by Western-blot. A549 cells or CEF wereinfected at MOI of 1 or 0.2 respectively with MVATG17842, MVATG17843,MVATG17971, MVATG17972, MVATG17993, and MVATG17994 respectively inpresence or in absence of proteasome inhibitor MG-132 (10 μM) added togrowth medium for MVATG17842 and MVATG17843. After 24 hours, cells wereharvested.

For MVATG17842, Western-blot analysis was performed using commercialmonoclonal anti-Pol antibody Hep B Pol (8D5, Santa Cruz, #sc-81591). Asshown in FIG. 1B, expression of a protein with an apparent molecularweight of 88.5 kDa was detected only in presence of MG-132. This bandhas the expected molecular weight for the Pol* protein.

For MVATG17843, Western-blot analysis was performed using commercialmonoclonal anti-Pol antibody Hep B Pol (8D5, Santa Cruz, #sc-81591). Asshown in FIG. 1B, expression of a protein with an apparent molecularweight of 98.2 kDa was detected in presence or in absence of MG-132.This band has the expected molecular weight for the Pol*-TMR protein.

It should be noticed that in presence of MG-132 more product and anadditional product of high molecular weight, over 200 KDa, weredetected.

For MVATG17971, Western-blot analysis was performed using a commercialmonoclonal anti-core antibody Hep B cAg (13A9) (Santa Cruz, #sc-23946).As shown in FIG. 1B, expression of Core*t was detected with an apparentmolecular weight of 21 kDa which corresponds to the expected molecularweight.

For MVATG17972, Western-blot analysis was performed using a commercialmonoclonal anti-core antibody Hep B cAg (13A9) (Santa Cruz, #sc-23946).As shown in FIG. 1B, expression of Core*t was detected with an apparentmolecular weight of 15.8 kDa which corresponds to the expected molecularweight.

For MVATG17993 and MVATG17994, Western-blot analysis was performed usinga commercial monoclonal anti-core antibody Hep B cAg (13A9, Santa Cruz,#sc-23946). As shown in FIG. 1B, expression of a protein with anapparent molecular weight of 19.9 and 23.4 kDa respectively wasdetected. This band has the expected molecular weight for theCore*t-Env1 protein and Core*t-Env1-Env2

2.2. Immunogenicity of Antigens Expressed from Adenovirus VectorsAdTG17909 and AdTG17910

The immunogenicity of the HBV polypeptides expressed by adenovirusvectors was assessed in HLA-A2 transgenic mice immunized with eitherAdTG17909 or AdTG17910 alone or with a mixture of the 2 adenoviruses.Specific T cell responses induced following one subcutaneous injectionwere evaluated by Elispot IFNg, ICS and in vivo cytolysis assays usingknown (described as being the target of specific T cell responses inpatients) HLA-A2 epitopes present in Polymerase, Core or the envelopedomains or/and pools of overlapping peptides covering the HBV antigensof interest.

2.2. HBV Specific IFNγ Producing Cell Evaluation by Elispot Assays

Elispot IFNg assays showed that AdTG17910 is able to induce IFNgproducing cells specific of an HLA-A2 restricted epitope (SLYADSPSV)(SEQ ID NO: 55 located within the HBV polymerase at positions 816-824)(FIG. 2A). Immunization with AdTG17909 also resulted in high frequencyinduction of IFNg producing cells specific for 2 Core HLA-A2 restrictedepitopes (FLPSDFFPSV at position 18-27 (SEQ ID NO: 56) and ILCWGELMTL atposition 99-108 (SEQ ID NO: 57) as well as for 3 envelope HLA-A2restricted epitopes (VLQAGFFLL (SEQ ID NO: 58) at positions 14-22 andFLGGTTVCL (SEQ ID NO: 59) at positions 41-49 both present in Env1, andGLSPTVWLSV (SEQ ID NO: 60) at positions 185-194 present in Env2) (FIGS.2B and C). Immunization with the mixture of AdTG17909 and AdTG17910 alsoinduced a comparable level of specific IFNg producing cells targetingthe same epitopes in the 3 antigens, ie the SLY epitope present in Pol,the FLP and ILC epitopes in the Core protein, and the 3 epitopes of theenvelope domains (VLQ, FLG and GLS) (FIG. 2A, B and C), Frequency of Tcell responses detected following immunization with a single Ad or themixture of the two was comparable, showing that there is no majorimmunodominance between the 3 antigens expressed from the describedvectors.

2.2.2. HBV Specific IFNg/TNFa Producing Cell Evaluation by IntracellularStaining Assays

The number of CD8 T cells able to produce either IFNg alone or IFNg+TNFatargeting HLA-A2 restricted epitopes present in polymerase (SLY) in Core(FLP and ILC) and in envelope domains (VLQ, FLG and GLS) were evaluatedby ICS assay. All these epitopes were the target of double and simplesecreting cells. The results are shown in FIG. 3. Animals immunized withAdTG17909 alone or in combination with AdTG17910 mounted roughlyequivalent Core- and Env-specific CD8 T cell responses (same percentagesof specific CD8 T cells producing IFNg or IFNg+TNFa followingrestimulation with FLP, ILC, VLQ, FLG and GLS peptides as shown in FIGS.3B and 3C). On the other hand, concerning the polymerase specific CD8 Tcell response (SLY epitope), a very high percentage of CD8+ cellsproducing IFNg or IFNg+TNFa was detected in mice treated with AdTGl 710expressing Pol* (FIG. 3A) as well as in those immunized with the mixtureof AdTG17910 and AdTG17909 although at a lower level (FIG. 3C).

2.2.3. HBV Specific IFNg/TNFa producing CD8 and CD4 T Cell EvaluationFollowing Immunization with a Mix of Adenovirus Vectors, byIntracellular Staining Assays

The percentages of CD8 and CD4 T cells able to produce either IFNg aloneor IFNg+TNFa or IFNg+IL2 targeting HLA-A2 restricted epitopes present inpolymerase (SLY) in Core (FLP and ILC) and in envelope domains (VLQ, FLGand GLS) or pools of overlapping peptides covering Core protein and Envdomains were evaluated by ICS assay. All the tested HLA-A2 restrictedepitopes were the target of single and double secreting cells (IFNg andIFNg+TNFa) and some pools of overlapping peptides were the target ofsingle and double to producing cells too (IFNg and IFNg+TNF andIFNg+IL2), The results are shown in FIG. 4. Five HLA-A2 transgenic micewere immunized with a mix of AdTG17909 and AdTG17910 and 3 HLA-A2transgenic mice were immunized with AdTG15149 (negative control).Animals immunized with AdTG15149 displayed no HBV-specific T cellresponses (data not shown). Animals immunized with AdTG17909 combinedwith AdTG17910 displayed a strong CD8 T cell response specific of HBVtargeted antigens (FIG. 4A), with high percentage of single (IFNg) anddouble (IFNg+TNFa) producing cells specific of the HLA-A2 epitopespresent in Polymerase, Core and Env domains and specific of the “core 1”pool of peptides and the pools of peptides covering Env1 and Env2domains. As illustrated in FIGS. 4B and 4C, these vaccinated mice alsodisplayed CD4 T cell responses specific of HBV antigens, in particularsingle (IFNg) and double (IFNg+TNFa and IFNg+IL2) producing cellsspecific of the “core 2” pool of peptides and the Env2-covering pool ofpeptides.

2.2.4. Induction of In Vivo Cytolysis Measured by In Vivo CTL Assays

The ability of adenovirus vectors AdTG17909 and AdTG17910 to induce invivo cytolysis against cells presenting HBV HLA-A2 epitopes was assessedby in vivo CTL assays. Four HLA-A2 epitopes were tested, respectivelySLY (Pol), FLP and ILC (Core) and VLQ (Env 1 domain). Six animals wereimmunized with a mix of AdTG17909+AdTG17910 and 2 animals were immunizedwith AdTG5149 (negative control). The half of each group (threeAdTG17909+AdTG17910 immunized mice and one AdTG15149 immunized mouse)was tested for its ability to lyse in vivo cells pulsed with SLY peptideand cells pulsed with ILC peptide. The other half was tested for theability of the vaccinated animals to lyse in vivo cells pulsed with FLPpeptide and cells pulsed with VLQ peptide. The results are shown in FIG.5. As expected, no HBV-specific in vivo cytolysis could be detected withAdTG15149 immunized mice (data not shown). In vivo cytolysis against the2 core epitopes FLP and ILC was weak in AdTG17909+AdTG17910 immunizedmice. However, in contrast, animals immunized with the mixture ofAdTG17909 and AdTG17910 displayed a strong in vivo cytolysis against thepolymerase epitope SLY (FIG. 5A) and Env1 epitope VLQ (FIG. 5B),reaching more than 50% of specific lysis in both cases, Interestingly,the combination of Ad vectors expressing pol, core and env moietiesallows the induction of specific T cell responses targeting the 3 HBVantigens when co-injected. Induced T cells are able to produce one or 2cytokines and to lyse in vivo cells loaded with some HBV peptides. Alltogether these data demonstrate the immunogenic activity of thecompositions described and their ability to induce CD8 and CD4 T cellresponses when vectorised by Ad.

2.3. Immunogenicity of Antigens Expressed from MVA vectors MVATG17842,MVATG7843, MVATG17971, MVATG17972, MVATG17993 and MVATG17994

The immunogenicity activity of the MVA-based compositions was assessedin HLA-A2 transgenic mice immunized with one of the MVA vectorsdescribed in Examples 1.1.2 to 1.1.7 (MVATG17842, MVATG17843, MVATG17971or MVATG17972 alone) or with a mixture of 2 MVA(MVATG17843+MVATG17972MVATG17843+MVATG17993 or MVATG17843+MVATG17994).Mice were immunized with three subcutaneous injections at one weekinterval and specific T cell responses were evaluated by Elispot IFNgand ICS using the above-described HLA-A2 epitopes present in Polymerase,Core or the envelope domains or/and pools of overlapping peptidescovering the HBV antigens of interest.

2.3.1. HBV Specific IFNγ Producing Cell Evaluation by Elispot AssaysFollowing Immunization with Polymerase Expressing MVA.

Three mice were immunized with either MVATG17842 expressing a truncatedand mutated polymerase antigen or MVATG17843 expressing amembrane-targeted version of the same truncated and mutated polymeraseor MVA N33.1 (negative control). Polymerase-specific T cell responseswere evaluated by IFNg Elispot assays using the SLY HLA-A2 restrictedepitope and pools of peptides covering the polymerase. No HBV-specific Tcell response was detected for mice immunized with MVA N33.1 and withMVATG17842 (data not shown). However, as shown in FIG. 6A, IFNgproducing cells were induced following immunization with MVATG17843which are specific of the HLA-A2 restricted epitope SLY and of thepeptide pool 8 covering the C-terminal portion of the polymerase (Nospecific response could be detected against the other peptide pools 1-7under the tested experimental conditions). These data highlight thebenefit of expressing polymerase as a membrane-anchored antigen at leastin MVA-based compositions.

2.3. HBV Specific IFNγ Producing Cell Evaluation by Elispot AssaysFollowing Immunization with Core Expressing MVA.

Eight mice were immunized with either MVATG17971 expressing a coremoiety deleted of residues 77-84 or MVATG17972 expressing a truncatedversion thereof (C-terminal truncation from residue 149) or MVA N33.1(negative control). Core specific T cell responses were determined byIFNg Elispot assays using HLA-A2 restricted epitopes (FLP and ILCpeptides) and the above-described core 1 and core 2 pools of peptides.As illustrated in FIG. 6B, immunization with MVA TG17971 is able toinduce sporadic T cell responses specific against HLA-A2-restricted FLPand ILC peptides and the two peptide pool covering core antigen (FIG.6B). No core specific T cell responses could be detected in miceimmunized with MVATG17972 using the tested peptides and under the testedexperimental conditions (data not shown).

2.3.3. HBV Specific IFNγ, Producing Cell Evaluation by Elispot AssaysFollowing Immunization with Combination of MVA Vectors.

Three mice were immunized with a mixture of MVA TG17843 and either MVATG17972, MVA TG17993 and MVA TG17994 and HBV specific T cell responseswere evaluated by Elispot IFNg assay using the above-described peptides.

-   -   Polymerase specific T cell responses were detected in the vast        majority of animals vaccinated with the combination        MVATG17843+MVATG17972 (positive responses in 2/3 animals as        shown in FIG. 7A), MVATG17843+MVATG17993 (positive responses in        3/3 animals as shown in FIG. 7B) and MVATG17843+MVATG17994        (positive responses in 2/3 animals as shown in FIG. 7C).        Frequency of IFNg producing cells seems to be comparable with        the one observed when MVA TG17843 was injected alone (FIG. 6A)        which demonstrates that vector combination is not detrimental to        the induced immune response.    -   no core-specific response could be detected under the        experimental conditions tested in any of the vaccinated animals        using HLA-A2 or pools of peptides (data not shown).    -   no env-specific response could be detected under the        experimental conditions tested in any of the animals vaccinated        with the MVATG 7993-comprising combination using Env1 HLA-A2 or        pools of peptides (data not shown).    -   Env 2-specific T cell responses were detected in 2 out of 3        animals immunized with the MVATG17994-comprising combination as        illustrated in FIG. 7C which were directed against both the        HLA-A2-restricted GLS epitope and the Env2-covering pool of        peptides (no detection of T cell response against Env1 domain        could be observed under these experimental conditions; data not        shown).

ICS assays performed in the same conditions confirmed the resultsobserved in Elispot assays (data not shown).

Interestingly, the combination of MVA vectors expressing pol, core andenv moieties allows the induction of specific T cell responses targetingthe pol and env2 antigens when co-injected.

All together, these data demonstrate the immunogenic activity of thecompositions described and their ability to induce T cell responsesagainst the major HBVantigens.

1.-59. (canceled)
 60. An immunogenic composition comprising acombination of at least two polypeptides or of the nucleic acidmolecules encoding said at least two polypeptides wherein said at leasttwo polypeptides are selected from the group consisting of: (i) Apolymerase moiety comprising at least 450 amino acid residues of apolymerase protein originating from a first HBV virus; (ii) A coremoiety comprising at least 100 amino acid residues of a core proteinoriginating from a second HBV virus; and (iii) An env moiety comprisingone or more immunogenic domain(s) of 15 to 100 consecutive amino acidresidues of a HBsAg protein originating from a third HBV virus.
 61. Theimmunogenic composition according to claim 60, wherein said compositionis selected from the group consisting of (i) a composition comprising acombination of said polymerase moiety and said core moiety or acombination of nucleic acid molecules encoding said polymerase moietyand said core moiety; (ii) a composition comprising a combination ofsaid core moiety and said env moiety or a combination of nucleic acidmolecules encoding said core moiety and said env moiety; and (iii) acomposition comprising a combination of said polymerase moiety, saidcore moiety and said env moiety or a combination of nucleic acidmolecules encoding said polymerase moiety, said core moiety and said envmoiety.
 62. The immunogenic composition according to claim 60 or claim61, wherein said first, second, and third HBV virus are from differentgenotypes.
 63. The immunogenic composition according to claim 60 orclaim 61, wherein at least two of said first, second, and third HBVviruses are from the same HBV genotype and preferably said first,second, and third HBV viruses are from the same genotype.
 64. Theimmunogenic composition according to claim 63, wherein said first,second, and third HBV viruses are from genotype D and preferably fromHBV isolate Y07587.
 65. The immunogenic composition according to claim63, wherein said first, second, and third HBV viruses are from genotypeB or C.
 66. The immunogenic composition according to claim 60, whereinsaid polymerase moiety is modified by truncation of at least 20 aminoacid residues and at most 335 amino acid residues normally present atthe N-terminus of a native HBV polymerase and preferably of the first 47or 46 amino acid residues following the initiator Met residue located atthe N-terminus of a native HBV polymerase.
 67. The immunogeniccomposition according to claim 66, wherein said polymerase moietycomprises an amino acid sequence which exhibits at least 80% of identitywith the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:7.
 68. The immunogeniccomposition according to claim 60, wherein said polymerase moiety ismodified so as to exhibit a reduced reverse-transcriptase (RTase)enzymatic activity with respect to a native HBV polymerase, andpreferably comprises the substitution of the Asp residue correspondingto position 540 in SEQ ID NO:1 and to position 494 in SEQ ID NO:7 to anyamino acid residue other than Asp, and preferably to a His residue. 69.The immunogenic composition according to claim 60, wherein saidpolymerase moiety is modified so as to exhibit a reduced RNase Henzymatic activity with respect to a native HBV polymerase, andpreferably comprises the substitution of the Glu residue correspondingto position 718 in SEQ ID NO:1 and to position 672 in SEQ ID NO:7 to anyamino acid residue other than Glu, and preferably to a His residue. 70.The immunogenic composition according to claim 69, wherein saidpolymerase moiety comprises an amino acid sequence which exhibits atleast 80% of identity with the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:8or with the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:7 with thesubstitution of the Asp residue in position 494 to an His residue andthe substitution of the Glu residue in position 672 to an His residue.71. The immunogenic composition according to claim 60, wherein saidpolymerase moiety is fused in frame to a heterologous hydrophobicsequence, and preferably in frame to the signal and trans-membranepeptides of the rabies glycoprotein, wherein said rabies signal sequenceis fused in frame at the N-terminus and said rabies transmembranesequence is fused in frame at the C-terminus of said polymerase moiety.72. The immunogenic composition according to claim 71, wherein saidpolymerase moiety comprises an amino acid sequence which exhibits atleast 80% of identity with the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:9.73. The immunogenic composition according to claim 60, wherein said coremoiety is modified by truncation of at least 10 amino acid residues andat most amino acid residues normally present at the C-terminus of anative HBV core, and preferably of the last 35 amino acid residues of anative HBV core.
 74. The immunogenic composition according to claim 73,wherein said core moiety comprises an amino acid sequence which exhibitsat least 80% of identity with the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ IDNO:10.
 75. The immunogenic composition according to claim 60, whereinsaid core moiety is modified so as to exhibit a reduced recognition ofand/or interaction with an HBV envelope protein with respect to a nativeHBV core, and preferably comprises an amino acid sequence which exhibitsat least 80% of identity with the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ IDNO:11.
 76. The immunogenic composition according to claim 60, whereinsaid one or more immunogenic domain(s) in use in the present inventionare selected from the group consisting of: The portion of an env protein(HBsAg) extending from position 14-51 (env 1 domain); The portion of anenv protein (HBsAg) extending from position 165-194 (env 2 domain); Theportion of an env protein (HBsAg) extending from position 81-106 (env 3domain); The portion of an env protein (HBsAg) extending from position202-226 (env 4 domain); and Any combination thereof.
 77. The immunogeniccomposition according to claim 76, wherein said immunogenic domain(s)comprises an amino acid sequence which exhibits at least 80% of identitywith any of the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NOs 12-15.
 78. Theimmunogenic composition according to claim 77, wherein said env moietycomprises an amino acid sequence which exhibits at least 80% of identitywith the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:16 or in SEQ ID NO:17.79. The immunogenic composition according to claim 60, wherein saidpolymerase, core, and/or env moieties are fused in frame in a singlepolypeptide chain by pairs or all together.
 80. The immunogeniccomposition according to claim 79, wherein said env moiety is fused inframe to the C-terminus of said core moiety.
 81. The immunogeniccomposition according to claim 80, wherein said fusion polypeptide ofthe core moiety with the env moiety is selected from the groupconsisting of: A polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence whichexhibits at least 80% of identity with the amino acid sequence shown inSEQ ID NO:18; A polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence whichexhibits at least 80% of identity with the amino acid sequence shown inSEQ ID NO:19; and A polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence whichexhibits at least 80% of identity with the amino acid sequence shown inSEQ ID NO:20 or with the portion of the amino acid sequence shown in SEQID NO:20 starting at residue 1 and ending at residue 251 oralternatively with the portion of the amino acid sequence shown in SEQID NO:20 starting at residue 1 and ending at residue 221; or deletedversions thereof lacking residues 77-84 in SEQ ID NO:20.
 82. A nucleicacid molecule encoding the polymerase moiety as defined in claim 60 orclaim 66, the core moiety as defined in claim 60, claim 73, or claim 75,and the env moiety as defined in claim 60, claim 76, or claim 79, or anycombination thereof.
 83. The nucleic acid molecule according to claim82, wherein said nucleic acid molecule is selected from the groupconsisting of: A nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequencewhich exhibits at least 80% of identity with the nucleotide sequenceshown in SEQ ID NO:21; A nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotidesequence which exhibits at least 80% of identity with the nucleotidesequence shown in SEQ ID NO:22; A nucleic acid molecule comprising anucleotide sequence which exhibits at least 80% of identity with thenucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:21 with the substitution of the Gnucleotide in position 1480 to a C, the G nucleotide in position 2014 toa C and the A nucleotide in position 2016 to a T; A nucleic acidmolecule comprising a nucleotide sequence which exhibits at least 80% ofidentity with the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:23; A nucleicacid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence which exhibits at least80% of identity with the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:24; Anucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence which exhibits atleast 80% of identity with the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ IDNO:25; and A nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequencewhich exhibits at least 80% of identity with the nucleotide sequenceshown in SEQ ID NO:26 or with the portion of the nucleotide sequenceshown in SEQ ID NO:26 starting at nucleotide 1 and ending at nucleotide753 or with the portion of the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:26starting at nucleotide 1 and ending at nucleotide 663 or deletedversions thereof lacking the portion extending from the G in position229 to the A in position 252 of SEQ ID NO:26.
 84. A plasmid or viralvector comprising one or more nucleic acid molecule(s) as defined inclaim 82 or claim
 83. 85. The vector according to claim 84, wherein saidviral vector is a replication-defective adenoviral vector, andpreferably an adenoviral vector comprising said nucleic acid molecule(s)inserted in replacement of the E1 region.
 86. The vector according toclaim 84, wherein said viral vector is a poxyiral vector and moreparticularly obtained from canarypox, fowlpox, or vaccinia virus, saidvaccinia virus being preferably from the modified Ankara (MVA) strain.87. The vector according to claim 84, claim 85, or claim 86, whereinsaid vector carries the nucleic acid molecules encoding said polymerasemoiety, said core moiety and said env moiety.
 88. The vector accordingto claim 84, claim 85, or claim 86, wherein said vector carries only oneor two of the nucleic acid molecules encoding said polymerase moiety,said core moiety and said env moiety.
 89. The vector according to claim88, wherein said vector is selected from the group consisting of: (i) AMVA vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule placed under the controlof a vaccinia promoter such as the 7.5K promoter and encoding apolymerase moiety comprising an amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ IDNO:7, SEQ ID NO:8, or SEQ ID NO:9 or in SEQ ID NO:7 with thesubstitution of the Asp residue in position 494 to an His residue andthe substitution of the Glu residue in position 672 to an His residue;(ii) A MVA vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule placed under thecontrol of a vaccinia promoter such as the pH5r promoter and encoding acore moiety and an env moiety comprising an amino acid sequence as shownin SEQ ID NO:18 or SEQ ID NO:19; (iii) An E1-defective Ad vectorcomprising inserted in place of the E1 region a nucleic acid moleculeplaced under the control of the CMV promoter and encoding a polymerasemoiety comprising an amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ IDNO:8, or SEQ ID NO:9 or in SEQ ID NO:7 with the substitution of the Aspresidue in position 494 to an His residue and the substitution of theGlu residue in position 672 to an His residue; and (iv) An E1-defectiveAd vector comprising inserted in place of the E1 region a nucleic acidmolecule placed under the control of the CMV promoter and encoding acore moiety and an env moiety comprising an amino acid sequence as shownin SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:19, or SEQ ID NO:20 or the portion of SEQ IDNO:20 starting at residue 1 and ending at residue 251 or the portion ofSEQ ID NO:20 starting at residue 1 and ending at residue
 221. 90. Aninfectious viral particle comprising the nucleic acid molecule accordingto claim 82 or claim 83 or the vector according to claim 84, claim 85,claim 86, claim 87, claim 88, or claim
 89. 91. The infectious viralparticle according to claim 90, wherein said infectious viral particlesis produced by a process comprising the steps of: (a) introducing theviral vector of the invention into a suitable cell line, (b) culturingsaid cell line under suitable conditions so as to allow the productionof said infectious viral particle, (c) recovering the producedinfectious viral particle from the culture of said cell line, and (d)optionally purifying said recovered infectious viral particle.
 92. Ahost cell comprising the nucleic acid molecule according to claim 82,the vector according to claim 84, or the infectious viral particleaccording to claim
 90. 93. A composition comprising the nucleic acidmolecule according to claim 82, the vector according to claim 84, or theinfectious viral particle according to claim 90, or the host cellaccording to claim 92 and a pharmaceutically acceptable vehicle.
 94. Thecomposition according to claim 93 which further comprises one or moreadjuvant(s) suitable for systemic or mucosal application in humans. 95.The composition according to claim 93 or claim 94 which is formulatedfor intramuscular or subcutaneous administration.
 96. The compositionaccording to claim 93, claim 94, or claim 95, which comprises from about10⁵ to about 10¹³ infection units of a viral vector or of an infectiousviral particle.
 97. A method for the treatment or prevention of an HBVinfection, or an HBV-associated disease or pathologic condition, andpreferably for the treatment of a chronic hepatitis B viral infection,said method comprising administering to a human or animal organism inneed thereof a therapeutically effective amount of: at least one of theHBV moieties as defined in claim 60; the immunogenic compositionaccording to claim 60; the nucleic acid molecule according to claim 82or claim 83; the vector according to claim 84; the infectious viralparticle according to claim 90; the host cell according to claim 92; orthe composition according to claim
 93. 98. The method according to claim97, wherein said method is used in combination with a standard of care,and preferably a standard of care comprising cytokines and/or nucleotideor nucleoside analogs selected from the group consisting of lamivudine,entecavir, telbivudine, adefovir, dipivoxil, and tenofovir.
 99. A methodof inducing or stimulating an immune response, and preferably a CD4+and/or CD8+-mediated cellular response, against HBV in a host organismcomprising administering to said organism at least one of the HBVmoieties as defined in claim 60, of the immunogenic compositionaccording to claim 60, of the nucleic acid molecule according to claim82 or claim 83, of the vector according to claim 84, of the infectiousviral particle according to claim 90, of the host cell according toclaim 92, or of the composition according to claim 93, so as to induceor stimulate said immune response.
 100. A kit of parts for use in thetreatment of an HBV infection, wherein said kit comprises a plurality ofactive agents selected from the group consisting of the HBV moieties asdefined in claim 60, of the immunogenic composition according to claim60, of the nucleic acid molecule according to claim 82 or claim 83, ofthe vector according to claim 84, of the infectious viral particleaccording to claim 90, of the host cell according to claim 92, or of thecomposition according to claim
 93. 101. The kit of parts according toclaim 100, which comprises a first vector comprising a nucleic acidmolecule encoding the polymerase moiety as defined in claim 60 and asecond vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule encoding the coremoiety and/or the env moiety as defined in claim
 60. 102. The kit ofparts according to claim 101, wherein said first vector is a MVA vectoras defined in claim 89(i) and said second vector is a MVA vector asdefined in claim 89(ii).
 103. The kit of parts according to claim 101,wherein said first vector is an Ad vector as defined in claim 89(iii)and said second vector is an Ad vector as defined in claim 89(iv). 104.The kit of parts according to claim 101, further comprising a thirdvector expressing an immunomodulator.